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Our Practical Method 



Copyright 1910 
by 

The Business Aid Co. 

Detroit, Mich. 



OUR PRACTICAL METHOD 

FOR 

RAISING CAPITAL 



WRITTEN BY 

LESLIE BARRON DAVIS 

AND ASSOCIATES 



/ft 



PRICE 



$7.00 



. I, 



Being a practical method for the 
quick, easy raising of funds through 
the assistance of others, without 
commission payments. Covering the 
securing of partners, the financing 
of corporations, direct borrowing and 
the obtaining of capital for any legi- 
timate enterprise. 



©CU273509 



Our Practical Method 



Foreword 

"There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, 
taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; omitted, 
all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows 
and in miseries; and we must take the current 
when it serves or lose our ventures." 

— Shakspeare. 



|W|E have a special reason for not pla- 
MAM cing an index in this book. It is 
this. The subject of money raising 
for business purposes is so deep and 
many sided that it is impossible to 
cover completely any large portion of 
it in one chapter and do justice to the 
subject. Therefore we want you to read 
it all — which an index might tempt 
you not to do. Several thousand pages 
could be easily written about this most 
interesting of all topics and then only a 
brief portion of the finer points would be 
touched. It is our purpose to present the 
necessary ideas in such a way as to make 
an interesting handbook for the family. 
Father, son, daughter, mother, may read 
reflect, act and profit thereby. (Indeed, 
we have seen many mothers who would be 
much more capable of turning this book 
to profit than their husbands, the Lords 
of Creation.) The authors are practical 



NINS 



Our Practical Method 



Foreword 

people and we believe after you have read 
the book you will be very sure we know 
well that about which we are writing. 
Having prepared the book for practical 
use, knowing that if used properly it will 
produce results, we have these suggestions 
to offer about reading it to the best ad- 
vantage. Read the book through once 
thoughtfully as you would a favorite 
novel. Try to imagine yourself placed 
in the various situations suggested. Do 
your best to feel as the investor would 
feel, also as the seeker (promoter) would 
feel. You will, we believe, find this plan 
of reading the book sufficiently enticing 
to carry you through its pages with much 
pleasure. Then with pencil and paper 
start in at the beginning and go thr ; ugh 
it again slowly, taking note of the pages 
and chapters wherein appears the points 
and arguments which are apparently best 
suited for application to your particular 
enterprise. Then classify, on paper those 
points with your own comments. Now 
we suggest that you read the book care- 
fully once or twice more. There are over 
sixty thousand words in it and you might 
easily skip a valuable point. As a result 
of this work on your part you should have 



TEN 



Our Practical Method 



Foreword 

in a few days, a perfect plan laid out, from 
the points in this book, which you will 
see at once will produce a reasonable 
amount of capital. Not only that but it 
will be through the assistance of others, 
the actual work for you to do being just 
as little as would be necessary under the 
most favorable circumstances. For you 
must do some little portion of the work 
yourself. Stick a pin in that. The 
money will not come to you without a 
little help on your part. Money is not 
secured so easily as some would have us 
believe. It requires some labor and some 
effort, since no investor would be likely to 
invest a dollar in your business until he 
had a chance to see you personally or have 
positive assurances that you were capable 
of handling his money to advantage. You 
must therefore either see him yourself or 
be sure that some responsible person does 
see him in your behalf. To be plainer. 
He must be convinced. You must do 
one of two things. Be clever enough to 
convince him yourself — or — be clever 
enough to locate someone who is clever 
enough. Nine-tenths of this book is 
devoted to the ways by which you can 
induce, request, cajole and in most cases 



ELEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Foreword 

force certain people to act at your behest 
and in your interest. Not by physical 
means, but by the logic of events, the 
customs of the times, the gentle art of 
mental suggestion. You can not force 
the investor to give up his money. We are 
aware of that. But you can force certain 
classes of people to give him the natural, 
business like suggestions which will, 
(unconsciously) induce him to do that 
very thing. You are informed, in this 
book just what to do and how to do it. 
Very little is left to judgment. We be- 
lieve you want practical help or you 
would not have written to us. Therefore 
we have taken extra pains to place before 
the ambitious, the struggling and the 
worthy, a book which is as we believe, 
complete in the minutest detail. Not 
like a text book for children. Not at all. 
But like a privileged confidential com- 
munication from one business man to 
another. Like a ray of hope to those who 
have tried and failed. Like a beacon of 
light to the wayfarer who is nearly, but 
not quite home. As bright and clear 
as the noonday sun to him who is at- 
tempting for the first time, mayhap, to 
get with those who sign the cheques on 



TWELVE 



Our Practical Method 



Foreword 

the front side bottom instead of those 
who only endorse them on the other side 
top. For many it is a long weary tramp 
out of the laboring class into the ranks of 
the employers. It is a question of brains 
against muscle, knowledge against labor, 
finesse against stupidity, a little careful 
headwork against the groping blindness 
of ignorance and that is all. A man 
would spend years as an apprentice in the 
building trades. He would spend years 
learning to be a surveyor or a civil engi- 
neer. He must do a deal of work even to 
pass a civil service examination. After 
all his preparations what has a salaried 
man got? Just a job. Likely to last or 
to end, who knows? And if it lasted what 
then? Still the same old job. No worse, 
perhaps, certainly not much better, than 
the average run of jobs. Every salaried 
man is a slave to the whims, the caprices, 
the whines, the growls, the vindictiveness, 
the sarcasm, the sneers of the man above 
him. Not that all employers do or say 
things to make their men unhappy. But 
they can if they want to. They have the 
power. Do their bidding or quit. "Ay, 
there's the rub." It is the sting in that 
very thought that makes the liberty lov- 



THIRTEEN 



Our Practical Method 



Foreword 

ing man rebel and vow by all that is good 
that he will stand it no longer. 



It should be borne in mind that the pur- 
pose of this book is not to create dissatis- 
faction with one's position. Not to stir 
up feeling or class hatred. Not to give 
any employe an exalted idea of himself to 
such a degree that he would resign from 
a good place in an unmanly way. But it 
should also be borne in mind that this 
book is for circulation among people who 
have already decided to better their condi- 
tion, who have already seen that a job is a 
poor way to make money and who already 
realize a stirring within them which, if 
not appeased, will forever make them 
miserable, unhappy, wretched. After a 
man once gets the idea that he is capable 
of bossing instead of being bossed, we say 
to him he might as well die fighting to be 
a business man as to die working at some 
job, which to him, is nothing but slavery 
if it offers no means of advancement. We 
say this advisedly, knowing it to be a 
matter of common experience. We real- 
ize some job holders reading these words 
may get their backs up at our arraign- 



POURTEEN 



Our Practical Method 



Foreword 

ment of an ordinary job. They may get 
sore. Even mad. We hope they do. 
Sometimes it takes a desperate outburst 
of passion to wake a man up to his sense 
of obligation to himself, his family and to 
the great world of which he is a part. It 
often requires an upheaval of feeling to 
show men just where they stand, how little 
they are but how much they might fee. 



Far be it from us to judge a man by his 
past. Most of us have ' 'histories.' ' We 
all do about as well as we can "consider- 
ing." But from to-day on things may be 
different. You have in your possession at 
this very moment the means of earthly 
salvation. In a week you will have had 
time to master the essential principles in 
this book. In a couple of weeks more you 
will have had ample opportunity to put 
those principles into actual practice. In 
a month or two months at the outside 
you should be in business. But will you? 
This book will provide an affirmative an- 
swer if you will be guided by it. 



FIFTEEN 



Our Practical Method 



Foreword 

"If you want to succeed in the world you must 
make your own opportunities as you go on. The 
man who waits for some seventh wave to toss 
him on dry land will find that the seventh wave 
is a long time corning. You can commit no 
greater folly than to sit by the roadside till some 
one comes along and invites you to ride with 
him to wealth or influence." — John B. Gough. 




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SEVENTEEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter One 

"Experience is a safe light to walk by, and he 
is not a rash man who expects success in the 
future by the same means which secured it in 
the past. — Wendell Phillips. 



D 



O present this work in an orderly 
maner we must have a basis or 
definite plan of operations. We have 
therefore chosen to develop "Our Prac- 
tical Method" along the line of capital- 
raising for retail store purposes first. 
From the conclusions arrived at during 
such development we have formulated 
the plans for capital-raising along the 
other ordinary lines of business, as whole- 
sale, manufacturing, mining, patents, 
real-estate, mail-order, corporations, etc., 
etc. Since no two chapters are alike 
we earnestly advise a careful study of 
the entire book, to the end that a com- 
prehensive view of the subject may be 
obtained. 



It is a far cry from the days when they 
used to keep store in a log cabin, to the 
day of the present when they produce 
finely organized department stores with 
acres of floors and thousands of clerks. 



EIGHTEEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter One 

Nowadays people are trained to be effi- 
cient in one department and not as 
store keepers. 

But once in a while an ambitious clerk 
feels a yearning to get into business 
for himself and to these worthy ones 
this book is aimed. Yet he is likely 
to falter before the money part, and for 
his benefit the facts contained herein 
are given. Only such statements are 
made and propositions put forth as are 
supported by the experience of man- 
kind, albeit the exact methods and de- 
tails will be new to most readers. 
Raising capital for business purposes is 
not new. It is as old as history and 
it is a subject which has, for one good 
reason, been shrouded in mystery, at 
least for many people. But when one 
analyzes the subject it is found to be 
much simpler than learning a trade, 
and far easier than saving money out 
of ordinary incomes. Indeed, in this 
day of high prices for living, about the 
only hope for the wage earner is to 
start in for himself, lest he become a 
drudge only and lose his very zest for 
life. Money raising is a question of a 
little study, application and patience 



NINETEEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter One 

and that is all there is to it. Merely 
a little knowledge, a little trying, a 
little time, and the desire is fulfilled. 

We consider this knack, for knack it is, 
the most valuable of any, because like 
swimming or skating, once gained it is 
never lost. By following the methods 
presented herein, the novice should be 
able to raise a reasonable amount of 
money at once and not only that, but 
gain the knowledge and confidence which 
will enable him to keep supplied with 
money for business as long as he lives, 
no matter what happens. 

We have avoided repetition as far as 
possible and therefore suggest that you 
read each chapter not only once, but 
several times. Study thoroughly so as 
to make the contents part of yourself. 
Do not allow your mind to contradict 
the facts, statements or suggestions, for 
they are the best and most economical. 
Finally remember that in your struggle 
for a higher place in the world our best 
wishes follow the book to you. 



TWENTY 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter One 

"The way to wealth is as plain as the 
way to market. It depends chiefly on 
two words, industry and frugality; that 
is, waste neither time nor money, but 
make the best use of both. Without 
industry and frugality, nothing will do; 
and with them, everything." 

— Franklin. 




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TWENTY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Two 

"Heaven never helps the man who will 
not act." 

— Sophocles. 



rSlERHAPS, before going farther into 
LMbI the discussion, it might be well 
for you to examine into the conditions 
which have heretofore held you back, 
for we believe you must have had the 
desire to go into business for some time. 
Consider your thoughts, your experience, 
look yourself over, so to speak, that 
you may decide for yourself before the 
end of this chapter as to whether there 
is hope for you. Perhaps you have not 
really tried to get the money you need, 
maybe you have just thought about it, 
and let it go at that. Well, if that is 
so, you need not be discouraged for there 
are others in the same boat. Now a 
little thinking is good but some action 
added is a whole lot better. Just like 
yeast added to flour, it makes the dough. 
It is better to have thought and lost 
than never to have thought at all. So 
if your proposition has up to this time 
been one of wind only, do not be dis- 
heartened, but, as the thought is father 



TWENTY-THKEE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Two 

to the deed, so now is the time for ac- 
tion. 

It may be you have been hampered by 
fear that you would lose your position 
if your employers found you were trying 
to get in business for yourself. This is 
at times a slight stumbling block but 
there are ways to avoid that possibility. 
This particular feature is important 
enough to be considered at length in 
another portion of this book. It is suf- 
ficient to say here that, if this point be 
an obstacle in your path, do not con- 
sider it any longer in that light, for it 
can be easily overcome. 

Possibly your lack of experience in your 
proposed enterprise has kept you from 
trying for capital. We do not suppose 
this is true, in your case, because it 
would seem foolhardy for anyone to try 
to raise money for any business in which 
he doubted his own fitness and ability. 
Confidence is the first and most neces- 
sary requisite. If you are not fit and 
can not make yourself reasonably sure 
on that point as far as your chosen en- 
terprise is concerned, we say, choose some 
line in which you are sure, even if there 



TWENTY-POUR 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Two 

is apparently less profit in it. You will 
be more likely to succeed, and that is 
what is to be earnestly sought. 

A man is far better as a moderate suc- 
cess than as a flat failure. There is time 
enough when you are making a little 
money and are your own boss to con- 
sider doubtful propositions and to fit 
yourself for them if you think best. 

Perhaps you have tried for the money 
and failed, thus becoming discouraged 
and going back to the old place with a 
heart as heavy as that of Job in all his 
misery. But that need not affect you 
in the least, other men have suffered 
the same defeat and then turned it into 
victory. Why not you? We say it is a 
question of a little knowledge, a little 
application and a little patience, and you 
know we are right for that is the expe- 
rience of mankind. If you have suffered 
defeat and humiliation in this way, 
there is all the more reason why you 
should be guided by the counsel and 
advice of those who know and thus save 
yourself further sad experiences of a 
similar nature. 

Do not by any means allow yourself to 



TWENTY-PIVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Two 

become downhearted because of pre- 
vious failure, Forget it. That's the 
watchword of the moneymakers nowa- 
days and a worthy one it is. "What 
cannot be cured must be endured,' ' 
and you certainly can gain nothing 
by looking backward. Place your best 
foot forward, your hopes in the fut- 
ure, work in the present and all will 
be well. 

You may have seen friends fail in bus- 
iness or you may have failed yourself, 
but neither of these are valid reasons 
for further failure. You should gain by 
experience remembering that every good 
business man makes mistakes, but only 
fools make the same mistake twice. 



"God gives all things to industry. 
Work while it is called today, for you 
know not how much you will be hin- 
dered tomorrow. One today is worth 
two tomorrows; never leave that till 
tomorrow which you can do today." 

— Franklin. 



You may have neglected your personal 
appearance, a common though serious 



TWENTY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Two 

error, and thus handicapped yourself 
without realizing it. But that can be 
easily overcome, and it will be men- 
tioned again later. 

We think after all there is one great 
reason for your failure so far to obtain 
the capital necessary for you to make 
a start in your chosen business. It is 
a lack of the detailed knowledge of just 
what steps to take so as to be reasonably 
sure. The other objections all pale into 
insignificance beside this one great bar 
to progress. To be sure each objection 
must be overcome, but they do not all 
apply to all cases. However, since the 
minor causes often appear, we must give 
them their due meed of attention. But 
the one great fault, the lack of detail 
knowledge of procedure, will from now 
occupy the bulk of our argument. We 
shall start at the beginning and in our 
next chapter we shall take up the psy- 
chological (mental) aspect of the sub- 
ject and show conclusively that the 
known laws of psychology may be ap- 
plied with equal force to acts relating 
to business as to any other mental state, 
condition or exertion. 



TWENTY-SEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Two 

Not that we want you to employ hyp- 
notism in raising capital, but that we 
do insist on your employing mental sug- 
gestion which amounts to the same 
thing only in a lesser degree. 



"Knowledge " says Bacon, "is power; 99 
but mere knowledge is not power: it is 
only possibility. Action is power; and 
its highest manifestation is when it is 
directed by knowledge/ 9 

—T. W. Palmer. 




TWENTY-EIGHT 



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Practical Method 


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TWENTY-NINE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Three 

"Science, when well digested, is nothing but 
good sense and reason." — Stanislaus. 



D 



HE raising of capital is the result of 
mental operations, as is also true of 
every other action of man, There was a 
time when certain apparently mysterious 
phenomena of life were accredited to"reflex 
action" which is a phrase only, meaning 
nothing, and as inexplainable as the phe- 
nomena themselves. In these latter days 
the scientists have done better. They 
have now formed a working hypothesis, 
regarding mental states and conditions, 
which operates under a fixed law and, 
better yet, is so simple and easily under- 
stood that he who runs may read. Our 
space will not permit us to enter into an 
extended discussion of this subject 
here nor would such discussion 
serve any useful purpose. Thousands 
upon thousands of pages have been writ- 
ten in thousands of years on mental sub- 
jects but it has remained for the brighter 
minds of our own time to formulate a 
law and to place psychological questions 
within the domain of the exact sciences. 
Our single purpose in mentioning this 



THIRTY 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Three 

subject at all here is to show how this 
law may be applied to help the business 
man and more especially the struggling 
beginner to attain the object of his finan- 
cial desires. The law is in three parts as 
follows — 

1. Man has two minds, objective and 
subjective. 

2. These two minds operate under 
entirely different states and conditions. 

3. The subjective mind is entirely con- 
trolled by suggestion. 

Now just a word as to the powers and rela- 
tions of these two minds after which we 
shall proceed to show the application of 
this knowledge to the affairs of business. 
The objective mind has many powers, 
but the one great power is that of induc- 
tive reasoning which goes from effect back 
to cause and deals with such unfeeling 
subjects as astronomy, geometry, arith- 
metic, etc., or in other words the objec- 
tive mind deals with things that the eye 
can see or can be proven by material facts 
of common knowledge. The objective 
mind controls the voluntary muscles of 
the body and is the mind of our waking 
hours, the mind of cold calculating 



THIBTY-ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Three 

reason, the mind of common sense. The 
objective mind is in evidence most dur- 
ing waking hours and therefore we are so 
familiar with its operations that we need 
not dwell upon its powers at greater 
length but simply caution you to bear in 
mind its principal power, that of induc- 
tive reasoning. 

Now the subjective mind is far more inter- 
esting and has far greater powers because 
it is the Soul of man. It has the power 
of infinite subdivision and reproduction 
which means the equivalent of creation 
itself. It has at times a perfect power of 
deductive reasoning which means pre- 
vision, foretelling, clairvoyancy or, more 
simply, reasoning ahead. It has an abso- 
lutely perfect memory, recording every 
thought and deed in the minutest detail. 
Last, but by far the most important to 
you, the subjective mind is the seat of the 
emotions or feelings. The objective mind 
is a product of evolution, something 
which has developed in man through the 
lapse of ages, to better fit him to do battle 
with his environment. Through the 
power of speech first, no doubt, then con- 
nected ideas, then communication of 
ideas, then signs, then writing, and finally 



THIRTY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Three 

history, has the objective mind of man 
placed him in his proud position as the 
head of the animal creation. 
Yet the subjective mind, while originally 
the creator of the objective mind, and 
now a slave to its bidding, possesses 
powers so far transcendant to those of the 
objective mind that there is really no fair 
comparison. For instance, the subjec- 
tive mind or soul is that force which gives 
life to man, governs the functions, sensa- 
tions, and conditions of his body, develops 
him to manhood, preserves and warns 
him in the face of danger and provides a 
perfect anesthesia in the hour of death. 
Wonderful powers to be sure. But what 
interests you most is that this subjective 
mind is the seat of the emotions, im- 
pulses, feelings, and that it is absolutely 
controlled by suggestions. Now these 
suggestions may come from your mind or 
his own objective mind or surrounding 
circumstances, which naturally leads us 
to our point which is : \ That capital may 
be most easily obtained by playing upon 
the emotions, feelings and impulses of 
the investor. 4 

That is to say, by the employment of 
discreet suggestions rather than by cold 



THIRTY-THREE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Three 

blooded argument. It will be our pur- 
pose to show you how to successfully 
employ the one and avoid the other and 
that is 

"OUR PRACTICAL METHOD." 

It is a case where the longest way around 
is the shortest way home. Too many 
men become so imbued with a sense of 
their own honesty and big ideas of their 
own business ability that they are likely 
to think all they have to do is to say to 
some man, "lend me five thousand," and 
presto, the money is put in the bank and 
all is as merry as the wedding bells. But 
getting capital is not so rosy a dream 
as that would make it appear. One must 
employ a little shrewdness, a little clever- 
ness, he must be very discreet so as not to 
scare away the very one from whom he 
expects the wherewithal. The investor 
must first be made to feel comfortable, 
to have confidence in you and to be sure 
you do not want his money for any unseen 
purpose of your own. Thus, you see 
the very first step is to secure a friendly 
feeling on his part. Since the subjective 
mind is the seat of the emotions, im- 
pulses and feelings it is very plain that the 



THIRTY-POUR 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Three 

first appeal must be by suggestive 
actions to inspire confidence and not by 
argumentative words to combat reason. 
It is very sure that investors would always 
say "no" if they were allowed to reason, 
but when approached rightly and given 
the proper suggestions their money is 
yours and you can handle them as well as 
their money. We shall now leave this 
subject temporarily but will bring it up 
again later when we get to the point 
where the actual methods of introducing 
the suggestions are taken up. 



"Every great scientific truth goes through 
three stages. First, people say it conflicts with 
the Bible, — next, they say it had been discovered 
before. Lastly they say they always believed 
it." — Agassiz. 



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THIRTY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 

Chapter Four 
"The advantage of a close alliance." 



fylANY young men lacking experience 
lIAI in business methods are led to be- 
lieve by newspaper talk that the only way 
to obtain a start is by means of a corpora- 
tion. The very word itself seems to have 
an alluring sound, as though if one could 
only become part of a stock company, the 
money would just flow into its coffers. 
Now let us say right here that a corpora- 
tion is something to be considered later. 
It is only good in cases where an immense 
amount of capital is involved and where 
the interests are diversified to a great 
extent. Then there is no doubt but what 
a corporation is, in many instances, ad- 
visable. But for the person who has a 
start to make in the world the corporation 
is useless. 

It is so much easier to obtain a partner, 
so much quicker and last, but not least, 
so much less expensive that there is really 
no good reason to consider a corporation 
at all where an ordinary amount of 
money is involved. Selling stock certifi- 
cates is a very hard proposition ordinarily, 
but this is especially true where there are 



THIRTY-SEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Four 

no assets to show except the good will of 
the promoter. Stock selling is an art or 
science by itself , one which requires care- 
ful training and extreme cleverness on the 
part of the salesman. It is therefore with 
the exercise of careful judgment on our 
part that we advise you to avoid any at- 
tempt to obtain money by selling stock 
unless you need more than $10,000 in cash 
or have assets or an established business 
upon which to base your claims. 

Stock selling as a means of raising capi- 
tal works well in the cases of wholesale, 
manufacturing, mining or real estate 
enterprises on the start, or in any other 
business where it is sufficiently well ad- 
vanced so that it can be easily shown that 
capital is needed only to enlarge its scope. 
But for you who need a little money for a 
start, a partnership is the only sure and 
sensible course. A corporation is un- 
wieldy, hard to handle, and this is par- 
ticularly true in the case of a retail busi- 
ness where each and every stockholder has 
different ideas as to how a store should be 
handled. It is much easier to get along 
with one partner than with many stock- 
holders and where speed in turning sales 



THIBTY-EI&HT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Four 

of goods is necessary, as a small business, 
stockholders are always in the way with a 
dozen useless suggestions. 

In a partnership there are no annual 
statements to be made to the Secretary 
of State, meaning publicity and other 
ills, as is the case in corporate bodies. 
Your business is your own and you should, 
while getting started, be in a position to 
keep it to yourself. But the main point 
of advantage of a partnership is that your 
partner cannot force you out of business 
at his own sweet will. The officers of a 
corporation might vote you out, but your 
partner will have no more to say than you 
and, therefore, a mutual understanding 
is necessary. It would be hard for you 
to get a hajf interest in an incorporated 
company while in a co-partnership itfis 
customary for one to put in the money, 
the other furnish the brains and do the 
work, and then share alike in the profits. 

We think the experience of mankind 
clearly proves the better way is for you to 
get a partner, do your best for two, three 
or four years, then sell out and go by 
yourself. You see our plans are to place 
you eventually in an entirely independent 



THTRTY-lTINi: 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Four 

position which is what you yourself 
should most earnestly desire. There is 
no boss like being your own boss and to 
further carry out that idea we have placed 
one chapter in this book on how to buy 
or sell an interest, to the end that you will 
not lose sight of your ultimate object and 
that you may be prepared, when the time 
comes, to be a business man on your own 
hook, independent, free to do as you wish. 



"Let all your views of life be directed to a solid, 
however moderate, independence. Without it 
no man can be happy." — Junius. 



oai&aa 




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Chapter Five 

"Choose always the way that seems the best, 
however rough it may he; custom will soon 
render it easy and agreeable/' — Pythagoras. 



fflOST men desiring to enter the retail 
IMji business have their choice already 
made, and to them nothing need be said 
in particular about a choice of a kind of 
business. But as a book of this kind 
must needs be general to a certain degree 
we take this opportunity of making a few 
suggestions to those who are undecided 
as to the best paying kind of store. Now 
if you belong to the latter class we say at 
once that it is not so much the business 
itself, as the men at the head of the busi- 
ness, that is responsible for its success or 
failure. Men fail in clothing stores, 
other men take the same store in the same 
same location and make a fortune in a 
few years. And so it is with all lines of 
retail trade. No line of goods for which 
there is a reasonable demand can be said 
to be so humble as not to be worthy of 
consideration. In the larger cities they 
make fortunes in dry cleaning, laundry, 
second hand stores of all kinds, house 
wrecking enterprises and even move gar- 
bage for money. So it would appear from 



FORTY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Five 

the experience of mankind that one need 
not hesitate for fear that his opportunity 
is not large enough. Any line is capable 
of growth and no country was ever so 
favorable as this great land of ours to 
starting in a small way and building 
rapidly. Two items only are worthy of 
attention here. One is experience, the 
other taste or adaptability. 

If both these requirements are combined 
in one person his success is doubly as- 
sured. But a lack of either, while a 
slight handicap, is not a reasonable cause 
of failure. One can, by the use of a little 
judgment, employ labor having either 
experience or adaptability. But if one 
lacks both in himself, failure is quite cer- 
tain. Which is to say if you have no 
natural liking for, nor experience in, a 
certain line of business, do not put money 
into it, neither your own nor that of any- 
one else. For it is no credit to waste 
another man's money. Even if you knew 
positively you could raise more money 
later for some other enterprise, yet we 
would still say no, for you would be wast- 
ing your time, and time is money. Far 
better to take some business that you 
like, that you could be proud of and take 



POSTY-THEEE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Five 

pleasure in, even if it does not look so 
good from the outside. 
Many schemes look rosy from what rumor 
carries but when they are sifted down 
they are found to be just ordinary from 
a money-making standpoint. If the line 
to which you have a natural leaning is 
also one in which you are experienced so 
much the better, for then success is 
within your grasp. But if not, then it 
would be a wise move to gain a little 
actual experience before engaging capital 
and striking out for yourself. In most 
cases this is comparatively easy and will 
always repay the time and effort by pre- 
paring one to avoid mistakes, which are 
costly. Again it is much easier to raise 
capital than in cases where the one desir- 
ing the money lacks enthusiasm or knowl- 
edge. Not one investor in five hundred 
would put a dollar into your proposition 
unless he was sure, by suggestion or by 
spoken or by written words, that you 
were intensely interested and thoroughly 
experienced in your proposed venture. So 
you see it is harder not only to make 
money, but to raise money, in cases 
where a lack of interest or experience is 
apparent. Not only that but the very 



POETY-r OUR 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Five 

life of business, buying low and selling 
high, is next to impossible for the novice. 
Therefore we say,in all frankness, if unde- 
cided, choose by all means, such a busi- 
ness as you have a natural liking for and 
in which you have had experience. Your 
chances of success in raising the capital, 
either through others or by yourself are 
far superior, and your prospect of a busi- 
ness success infinitely greater than in any 
other way. 



"Nature has concealed at the bottom of our 
minds talents and abilities of which we are not 

— Rochefoucauld, 




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FORTY-SIX 



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Chapter Six 

"Fear nothing but what thine industry may 
prevent." — Quarles. 



HERY few people really understand the 
power of advertising to draw trade 
and sell goods and for the benefit of those 
a few remarks will be made here as to the 
location of a store, as that is a question 
which bothers not a few. Many are held 
back because they have not a first class 
location in sight and fear failure if they 
accept an inferior one. To those we say 
at once do not hesitate on that account 
but go straight ahead securing the best 
location at hand, keeping your eyes open 
for a better one later. A noted politician 
once said, "the only way to get elected is 
to get votes,' ' and similarly we say the 
best way to get business is to get a loca- 
tion and make the start. 

Not but what some locations are better 
than others, for we admit all the stern 
truth of that. But do not forget the 
drawing power of advertising. If your 
prospective store is not unreasonably out 
of the way a moderate use of the news- 
papers, billboards, streetcars, etc., as 
advertising mediums will surely bring 



FORTY -SEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Six 

people to your store and, after they have 
commenced patronizing you, it becomes 
your duty to see they are so well taken 
care of that they will surely come again. 
In a general way a good location means 
near a point where many people pass or 
are wont to congregate. This may be in 
a big office building, near a traction 
corner, postoffice, hotels or near a ship 
landing. But no matter where the loca- 
tion may be if it is worthy of investment 
in a store, it is surely worthy of adver- 
tising. 

The main point we desire to make here 
is, that while the best location is of 
great importance, yet it is not of such great 
importance as to keep you out of busi- 
ness. It is better to make a reasonable 
profit and to be your own boss, all the 
while keeping a weather eye out for a bet- 
ter point of vantage, than to wait inde- 
finitely for a location so perfect that you 
may never find it. Now we shall take 
up the subject of advertising for bu- 
siness purposes in another chapter of 
this book and therefore do not feel it 
necessary to devote much space to that 
subject here. We merely desired |to 
assure the doubter that he need not hesi- 



rOETY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Six 

tate on account of having, what he con- 
sidered, an ordinary location in mind. It 
is the advertising that counts and it has 
power enough by suggestion to draw 
trade in places where you would never 
think a man could make a dollar. 
Many a man has got rich in the store busi- 
ness in places that had previously been 
turned down by dozens of supposedly 
astute business men. There is just one 
way and that is to act on your best judg- 
ment. After making a careful investiga- 
tion into the merits of several, pick out 
the best one, in your opinion, and then 
proceed directly to follow the plans in this 
book for raising the capital with that par- 
ticular location in mind. No doubt you 
have noticed in your own experience that 
every time you acted against your better 
judgment you made a mistake. That is 
to say when you followed impulse (sub- 
jective emotion) in preference to a cold, 
calm weighing of facts you found you 
were wrong. Now that is an experience 
common to mankind, and we suggest 
here that you make a vow this very day 
never to follow anything hereafter but 
your better judgment, formed after ma- 
ture deliberation. You know the say- 



FORTY-NINE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Six 

ing by Shakspeare, "Men's judgments 
are a parcel of their fortunes.' ' Apply 
this to the subject of your proposed loca- 
tion and after having decided in your own 
mind, follow the capital-raising feature 
of the program just as eagerly as though 
you were sure you had the best location 
you could possibly get. Believing that 
idea yourself will add materially to your 
success in obtaining the money and also 
to your business success afterward. 



'Judgment is forced upon us by experience. 

— Johnson. 




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FIFTY-ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Seven 

"Man is not born to solve the problem of the 
universe, but to find out what he is to do; and 
to restrain himself within the limits of his com- 
prehension." — Goethe, 



nHIS chapter is devoted to a mention 
and explanation of a few points about 
which it is necessary to have some knowl- 
edge before attempting to raise capital. 
We are going deeper into the subject of 
"your own fitness' ' for the actual prose- 
cution of your business later in the book, 
but right at this point it is necessary to 
name the main things about which your 
investor will want to know. For, while we 
are going to show you various ways by 
which you may secure other's assistance 
in raising the capital, yet it is very true 
that the investor will want to see you 
personally, and unless you can do all the 
talking yourself, he will surely ask you 
some questions. The following points 
are most likely to come up as the subjects 
of conversation between yourself and the 
probable investor. 

Major Subjects: — Location, Rents, Fix- 
tures; Amount of stock required; Prob- 
able receipts and expenses for first year. 



FIFTY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Seven 

Minor Subjects : — Advertising, Buying, 
Selling, Collections, Bookkeeping, Busi- 
ness Forms, Extending Credits, Care of 
Stock, appearance of store; Personality 
in keeping trade; Obtaining credits; Per- 
sonal appearance. 

Now these items are all legitimate sub- 
jects of discussion preliminary to invest- 
ment in a business enterprise. You will 
find as a result of your past or future ex- 
perience that the investor will be throw- 
ing out hints on any of these subjects 
with the idea of probing your intellect 
and measuring the depth of your knowl- 
edge on whichever item seems to him of 
the greatest momentary importance. 
Not that you are supposed to enter into 
an argument about any of these ques- 
tions with the investor. Not at all. Ar- 
guments are ruinous, only the more sub- 
tle force of suggestion being successful 
in raising capital. But we want you to 
know just enough about these subjects 
so that you may answer quickly any ordi- 
nary question, at once turning the con- 
versation to the other items about which 
you are most familiar, thus exemplifying 
Napoleon's great characteristic when he 



FIFTY-THREE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Seven 

said, "Circumstances! Why I make Cir- 
cumstances." 

Keep the investor off his ground and on 
your own all the time. That's being 
clever. As far as locations and rents are 
concerned you will have no trouble in 
securing such information as you may 
need from real estate men and landlords 
in the vicinity of the spots which you 
have selected as being suitable. Get all 
such knowledge as you can, without los- 
ing too much time, as you will find this 
subject will be one of the first to be ap- 
proached by the investor. The amount 
of goods required for stock is next in order 
and you may prepare yourself for this by 
making up a list of stock needed and ob- 
taining prices on such list from two or 
three wholesale houses. This looks like 
business and will create a very favorable 
impression. The item of fixtures is a 
subject to avoid (except under certain 
conditions, named later) because it is an 
investment of money which is lost to a 
great extent, or at least is so regarded by 
most people. Yet this list is one which 
needs attention and should be prepared 
in advance. Make it as small as you can 
so that if the subject is brought up at all 



FIFTY-FOUR 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Seven 

you can show an attempt at economy, 
in an item of this kind, which is necessary 
but still is practically dead as it is not a 
direct source of profit. 

Economy suggestions are always effective 
and nowhere can they be introduced to 
better advantage than in this subject of 
fixtures, etc., which, however, on account 
of its profitless nature, we advise avoiding 
until the deal is sure, when possible. The 
probable receipts and expenses for the 
first year are two items which must be 
considered together, on account of their 
intimate relation, and you will find this 
to be very interesting conversation to the 
investor. The estimate of receipts you 
will make as large as you can, reasonably, 
and of expenses you will make as small as 
you can, reasonably, for the investor will 
be sure to decrease the receipts and in- 
crease expenses, mentally, and this pro- 
cess should reduce the plans to a point 
at about which they are fairly certain to 
work out. 

Now as to the minor subjects. Advertis- 
ing may be by newspapers, billboards, 
street cars, theatre programs, window 
displays and distributing circulars or 



PIFTY-PIVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Seven 

samples. It would be well to have these 
various forms in mind so that in case of 
necessity few well chosen words could 
be said regarding either. For example, 
an extra good central location should 
find that all the appropriation for adver- 
tising could profitably be spent in news- 
papers as they are without doubt the best 
for retail business. 

But the secondary or side locations will 
find the other forms better as they are 
such as may be confined to a restricted 
area of population and thus the money 
spent on people in the immediate vici- 
nity. But the subject of advertising for 
business will be treated more fully in 
another chapter as it here intended to 
convey the idea that some knowledge of 
advertising is necessary for a prelimi- 
nary talk with the investor. Albeit there 
are books on this subject, of more or less 
value, but all containing ideas for talking 
purposes, which is the prior consideration. 

Buying is a very important subject and if 
you could show some actual experience 
in this branch so much the better. But 
if not, the fact that you have prepared 
a stock list and obtained prices, in antic- 



PIFTY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Seven 

ipation of comparison, will prove due 
diligence on your part and as a suggestion 
of your willingness to work will go a long 
way toward convincing the investor of 
your capability as a business man. There 
is a very true saying that "goods well 
bought are already half sold," and, since 
buying stock is such a very important 
part of the successful conduct of a busi- 
ness, this feature should receive enough 
attention from you so that you may be 
able to at least converse intelligently re- 
garding it. Show that you appreciate 
fully the importance of it and you will 
score a strong point in your favor. Sell" 
ing goods, extending credit and making 
collections are next in importance and all 
come in the same category. Their inti- 
mate relation is such that they can not 
easily be separated. 

One thing important in selling is that 
the customer should be satisfied, if he 
is worth keeping. His trade and his 
friend's trade are worth far more in a 
year than a paltry dollar or two which 
might be made extra in one deal by sell- 
ing him an inferior article at a high price. 
You should realize of course that in re- 
lation to extending credits a cash business 



FIPTY-SEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Seven 

is best. But there are many lines and 
many locations in which this principle 
is not only useless but impossible. Yours 
may turn out to be one of them. There- 
fore you should be familiar with the com- 
mercial agencies and all other means 
open to the merchant for establishing 
a credit rating for your customers, and 
be able to prove to the investor that you 
are alive to the possible necessity of ex- 
tending credit and are prepared by actual 
knowledge to cope with it. 

Making collections is a science by itself. 
But it is founded on politeness, firmness 
and cleverness and thus is open to any 
ambitious person who is willing to work 
and study. Politeness in asking for 
the money, firmness when insisting on 
payment, and cleverness in getting the 
customer back to the store and that is 
all. But those three words cover a mul- 
titude of actions and will be found just 
as effective in making a favorable im- 
pression upon the investor as in securing 
actual collections from a customer. 

Technical knowledge of bookkeeping and 
business forms is advisable but not abso- 
lutely necessary. However it is wise to 



FIFTY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Seven 

know enough about them to satisfy the 
investor, also to be sure that your book- 
keeper, when employed, is correct in his 
work. 

For be it known that even bookkeepers 
make mistakes and if your knowledge in 
these lines is deficient you should at once 
look over some of the better and simpler 
systems so as to present as good a front 
to the investor as possible, also to be sure 
your bookkeeper is right, when you have 
one. By lax methods in this department 
one may easily force himself out of busi- 
ness, through neglect and forgetfulness, 
therefore be advised and if necessary 
absorb such elementary knowledge at 
the first opportunity 

An appreciation of the general appear- 
ance of the stock and store will be found 
very interesting to the investor because 
it will prove conclusively to him that you 
are not only aware of generalities in busi- 
ness but you are also intent upon its finer 
points. 

Be ready to prove to him if you can, that 
you have good ideas as to arrangement of 
details so the store will always present 
the appearance of newness, freshness and 



FIFTY- NINE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Seven 

attractiveness. Keeping track of the 
stock is very important and for your in- 
formation we will say that the better 
stores now keep such an accurate account 
of purchases and sales that an inventory 
is more a form than a necessity. A well 
kept store should know what it has and 
where it stands every day, if such inform- 
ation is desired. This is very easily done 
and we refer you to such business books 
as you may find on the subject, lack of 
space preventing us from presenting it 
more completely here. Be sure this will, 
however, be good news to the investor, 
who is always afraid dishonesty may re- 
move a stock of goods in the daytime and 
under his very eyes, without his being 
aware of it. 

Personality in keeping trade belongs to 
the higher and finer realms of business 
practice and not all possible investors 
would know what you meant if you sug- 
gested this subject to them. But many 
of them would know and appreciate it. 
Therefore be prepared with what ideas 
you can gather on this subject. It in- 
cludes the technical methods of handling 
individual customers. You will find each 
one worthy of study and besides you can 



SIXTY 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Seven 

communicate your knowledge to your 
clerks, being sure to discharge those 
whom you see at once are not capable of 
absorbing and applying such hints. 

Regarding obtaining credits for your 
company after getting started. You will 
find few investors will be willing to put 
up enough money to run your business 
on a strictly discount basis. 

That is the better way, when possible, 
but the investors know that 90 per cent, 
of business is done on credit and they are 
likely to insist that if they furnish enough 
money for a financial basis, you should 
be willing to handle the bulk of your 
business on a credit basis, which is not 
without reason. Under these conditions 
it is well for you to be familiar with bank- 
ing rules and customs relating to credits, 
and willing to set forth the amount of 
credit in purchasing and borrowing which 
you could reasonably expect in furthering 
the interests of your mutual business. 
Personal appearance is a strong point to 
be considered. We would not mention 
this subject at all but for the fact that 
many consider themselves well clothed 
when they are not. The shoes should be 



SIXTY-ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Seven 

cleaned, the trousers pressed, the coat 
carefully brushed, the hat new, the linen 
fresh and the general appearance as a 
whole should be one of style and gentility. 
If in doubt ask the tailor, he is there to 
give information. Get good clothes any- 
way and then you will have to live up to 
their quality. Men whose appearance is 
sloppy sometimes stumble into success, 
but they do not deserve it. Such occur- 
rences are rare nowadays and happen 
more as the result of accident than 
design. 

"A man of the world must SEEM TO BE what 
he wishes to be thought." — Bruyere. 




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Chapter Eight 

"Knowledge once gained casts a light beyond 
its own immediate boundries." — Tyndall. 



HOMEBODY said that anything worth 
doing at all is worth doing well and 
we firmly believe this saying to be a true 
one. So, while it may seem to be a little 
extra work and to some a useless waste of 
time, yet we suggest that your prepar- 
ation for the money raising ordeal is not 
complete without some kind of a pros- 
pectus. This should be, in general terms, 
a statement of what your proposition is 
going to cost and what you expect to make 
out of it for a term of from one to two 
years. It should be typewritten, if pos- 
sible, but if that is not convenient it may 
be carefully prepared with a pen. In the 
latter case it is well to prepare it with a 
pencil first then copy in a very legible 
hand so as to be easily readable. 

The value of a prospectus in an ordinary 
store proposition is often overestimated. 
An experienced business man would fol- 
low the plans laid out later in this book 
and get a partner while ordinary people 
were getting ready. But since our writ- 
ing is to the masses as well as to the 



SIXTY-FIVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Eight 

classes we must carefully explain every 
little detail in the entire process so that 
even the novice may see the way plainly. 
The object of a prospectus is, primarily, 
to present a statement of facts and fan- 
cies for the investor's consideration. Sec- 
ond, it looks like you mean business. But 
these two are of little importance com- 
pared with the third which is that, the 
time the investor occupies in looking over 
your prospectus gives you time to look 
him over, size him up and decide for 
yourself whether or not he can be led. If 
you decide he is the man for you, well and 
good, but, if not, pay no more attention 
to him and go right along to the next one. 
Here is another case where you should 
follow your better judgment and you will 
find it usually right. The prospectus 
should contain a statement of the prob- 
able investment for the stock of goods, 
furniture and fixtures, and remodelling 
painting, repairing, cleaning, etc., where 
necessary. Also an estimate of probable 
expenses, sales and profits for one or two 
years. We advise putting down every 
item you can think of (for if you do not 
think of them the investor will) but do 
not make the total of expenses unreason- 



SIXTY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Eight 

ably large nor the total of sales unreason- 
ably small, for these are purely specula- 
tive in their nature, since no one knows 
what the outcome will be. That being 
the case your opinion is as good as his and 
vice versa. Therefore you are entirely 
justified in making your proposition look 
as well as you can on the face of it. . . 
There is one matter to be careful about, 
if your prospect is inclined to be conser- 
vative and has by careful management 
saved a little money, do not pile up the 
profits too fast. Remember, he judges 
life by his own experience and is liable to 
become nervous if you hold up your way 
of making money as being superior to 
his, meanwhile asking him for capital. 
If he is an. enthusiast you need have no 
fear of scaring him, for the more radical 
your language the better he will like it. 
How can you tell the difference? Easy 
enough. Just let him talk and he will at 
once tell you his ideas of money making. 
You will see at a glance whether he is 
thinking of putting the profit in a savings 
bank or buying an automobile and that's 
the main difference between a conserva- 
tive and a radical. One point to leave 
out of your prospectus and that is the 



SIXTY-SEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Eight 

question of your own salary or drawing 
account. For there is no doubt but 
what you should have pay for what work 
you do. But you will find this a subject 
for much argument at first and should be 
avoided until a little later when the pro- 
position is underway and the investor has 
at least a few days to see that you are real- 
ly going to do your part. After he gets to a 
point where he cannot easily retreat then 
you can have your turn and dictate your 
drawing account or salary to a good deal 
better advantage than at first. We regret 
we cannot explain all these small points at 
once and for your sake turn the whole 
subject loose with one stroke of the pen. 
But in the order of things that cannot be. 
You must be content to grasp the sub- 
ject slowly at first remembering that the 
business men whose knowledge is here 
recorded obtained that knowledge by the 
hardest knocks and were years and years 
accumulating the experience that is yours 
for a few hours study. As you follow the 
line of thought in the ensuing pages you 
will see that the whole trend of this work 
is to prove the power of suggestion in 
business — especially in money raising — 
which is the very corner stone of the 



SIXTY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Eight 

whole business system. "You can drive 
a mule to water but you cannot make him 
drink.' ' It is just that way with inves- 
tors. You can bulldoze them into a 
great many things but when one goes 
down in his pocket for real money and 
puts it into your business it will be be- 
cause he thinks he is doing himself a good 
turn. It will be of his own free will and 
accord and such a frame of mind can only 
be brought about by the use of proper 
suggestions. In ninety-nine cases out of 
a hundred the investor will unconsciously 
make known to you his weak points and 
then you will know what to say. It is a 
great thing, sometimes, to be a good lis- 
tener, for many a loose dollar has been 
uncovered by the cackle of the unwary. 
We believe these points will become more 
plain and their usefulness more apparent 
as you go deeper into the subject. 



"// you have knowledge let others light their 
candles at it." — Fuller. 



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SEVENTY 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nine 

"Let no man presume to give advice to others 
who has not first given good counsel to him- 
self/' — Seneca. 



JTWIE will suppose that by the time you 
|LiJ| get to this portion of the work you have 
made yourself familiar with the foregoing 
chapters of this book. That you have 
picked out your most glaring faults, if 
any and taken steps to overcome them. 
That you have spent some little time at 
least in making mental comments on the 
psychological aspect of capital raising and 
have noted the wonderful effect of sug- 
gestion in ordinary life. That you have 
decided to accept a partnership as the 
best solution of your problem. That you 
have made a choice as to the kind of store 
you wish to run and have made the best 
selections possible as to locations. That 
you realize the need of some little pre- 
paration in various branches of store busi- 
ness, and have arranged to possess your- 
self at once with such knowledge as may 
be within your reach on such of the sub- 
jects in which you may feel the need of 
brushing up. That you have prepared a 
list or prospectus for presentation to your 



SEVENTY-ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nine 

prospective investor. If you have taken 
reasonable precautions on the items men- 
tioned above then you are ready for the 
next step which is the securing of names 
of, and introductions to, investors. Now 
these investors may come from your rela- 
tives, friends and acquaintances or from 
the general public. We do not believe in 
wasting time with relatives, friends or 
acquaintances. But if one or more of 
them seem to you to be likely investors 
there is no harm in casually mentioning 
the subject either by word of mouth or 
by letter just to find out how they take to 
the proposition. If the result is at all 
favorable you can then put them on your 
list with other favorable prospects and 
follow them up in precisely the same 
manner as you would in the case of a 
total stranger, using the plans suggested 
later in this book for the final conclusion 
of the deal. Now as to securing names of 
investors from the general public. There 
are three ways, solicitation, circularizing, 
advertising. The soliciting method is 
the cheapest for you and may prove to be 
just what you need although we do not 
heartily recommend it except in cases 
where a man simply cannot spare the 



SEVENTY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nine 

money for an advertisement. In such a 
case the soliciting method is likely to 
prove a winner although it is reasonably 
certain to be a slower process than the 
advertising plan. Were you to decide on 
soliciting you would simply present your- 
self at the office of any man whom you 
might select and, after introducing your- 
self and becoming acquainted, you casu- 
ally suggest that he give you his opinion 
on the value of a certain store in a certain 
location. It is nothing uncommon to 
see one proprietor with several stores on 
his hands and if your line and location 
happened to please him you could put 
him on your list of possible investors, 
handling him just as you would a stran- 
ger, and seeking a conclusion of the deal 
according to the plans laid down in later 
chapters of this book. This is all there is 
to the soliciting. Simple enough, easy as 
can be, costs you nothing but time and 
shoe leather and surely you can spare time 
enough to get started in business. Yes, 
it costs something more than that. This 
method calls for a draft upon your nerve 
and courage. Yet to us it seems that it 
is no more courageous to make a simple 
suggestion of that kind to a business man 



SEVENTY-THREE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nine 

and requires no more nerve than to walk 
two miles to a days work or to slave ten 
hours a day for some one else in a stuffy 
office. It is all in the way one looks at it. 
At first blush it may seem unusual and 
useless but if you are not in a position to 
try the quicker, but more costly, methods 
try this one, it is well worth it and after 
you have seen one or two men the awk- 
wardness will leave you and you will see 
it in its true light, as a simple ordinary 
business proposition. Now do not get it 
into your head that we want you to do all 
the work, for that is not true. But a cer- 
tain part you must do no matter how well 
you may be situated. If it so happens 
that you are very poorly situated it will be 
necessarily mean more work on your part 
than would be necessary if you could pay 
to have a portion of it done for you. 
Money does not grow on trees and a man 
who wants money has got to do some 
scheming to get it. It is our business in 
this book to place you in such a position 
that you can get the money you need with 
the least possible effort on your part, con- 
sidering at the same time quickness and 
certainty of results. We will pass to the 
subject of circularizing for the names of 



SEVENTY-POUR 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nine 

investors. This is simple. Just make up 
a circular statement either in an ordinary 
form or blind (see later) and mail it to a 
few hundred or thousand names of busi- 
ness men in your vicinity. You should 
get some replies, depending in number 
upon the attractiveness of your proposi- 
tion and the numbers of letters you send 
out. After obtaining the replies in suffi- 
cient quantity, in your opinion, you can 
then take them up in order and handle 
them just as per the directions given 
later. This plan is not a bad one, espe- 
cially in very small towns where the ad- 
vertising facilities may not be good. It 
should result in a few replies and a reas- 
onable chance of securing a partner. If 
persisted in, and the circular well written, 
it should be a sure plan, though slower 
than advertising in the papers. Its ad- 
vantage is that, the postage being the 
main cost, one may prepare a list of 
names and mail out a few letters occa- 
sionally with extra pocket change. Its 
disadvantage is its uncertainty because 
of its slowness. Now we are going to ex- 
plain the best methods for obtaining 
names of investors which is by newspaper 
advertising. In using this plan you are 



SEVENTY-FIVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nine 

sure of one thing which is, that your 
chance is as good as that of any one else, 
because, if you use a blind advertisement, 
no one can possibly know which one is 
yours and which belongs to the others. 
Therefore if advertising pays, which we 
are told it does, then you have, by using 
this plan, just as fair and equal a chance 
to get replies as any or all of those who 
may happen to advertise the same day 
you do. 

Now you see why we have been so ex- 
plicit about your preparation. We knew 
positively we could map out a sure way 
for you to get in touch with investors and 
we wanted to be sure that you could play 
your own part with the aid of such assis- 
tance as we will show you how to take 
advantage of later. 

Here we will explain about "blind" and 
* 'ordinary' 9 advertisements. A "blind" 
advertisement is one which states as 
much or little of your proposed enter- 
prise as may be consistent, and contains 
a newspaper number, a postoffice box, an 
address in care of some one else, or any 
other way of securing the resulting in- 
quiries without signing your name, or in 



SEVENTY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nine 

any other way making your identity 
known publicly. An "ordinary' ' adver- 
tisement states your desires and your 
reasons therefor, together with your name 
and address and all particulars. 

Now we advise the "blind' ' form of adver- 
tising because it is private, enables you to 
confine your affairs in the knowledge of 
very few besides yourself and this is most 
desirable. One will pull as many replies 
as the other so there is no advantage as 
far as cost is concerned one way or the 
other. 

Now the thing for you to do is to prepare 
a blind advertisement suitable to your 
enterprise and place it in one or more of 
the leading daily or Sunday papers in 
your vicinity. You will find out after a 
few trials what the replies cost and we 
suggest you should get five replies for 
every $1000 you want to raise. For out of 
five replies you are reasonably certain to 
get a partner with $1000, or out of ten 
replies a partner with $2000, or out of 
twenty replies a partner with $4000. This 
holds true in case you can use an amount 
ranging from $1000 to $4000. But if you 
want an exact amount, no more, no less 



SEVENTY-SEVEN" 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nine 

then put that figure in. your advertise- 
ment and the resulting replies will be 
found to usually have it all, or be in a 
position to get it all from others. In cas e 
you ask for a certain fixed amount you 
will find the replies will vary in price, that 
is a reply from a $500 man would cost less 
than a reply from a $1000 man, and so on 
for the very good reason that there are 
more people in the $500 class than in the 
$1000 class, and again, many in the $1000 
class would risk part but not all. 
Now if your proposition is such that you 
can start with a variable amount then 
you should say in the advertisement "few 
hundred wanted" or a "few thousand 
wanted,' ' as the case may be. This 
method always gives you the chance of 
getting an investor who has much more 
than you think you need which is not a 
bad idea at all. Now the cost of the re- 
plies should not be over $5.00 where any 
amount less than $10,000.00 is wanted 
and it will be found that they will cost 
nearer $1.00 than $5.00. We have never 
known of such replies costing more than 
$5.00 each and we have known of them 
costing as low as 25 cents. But the aver- 
age seems to be about 50 cents for each 



SEVENTY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nine 

$1000 or less, needed. Thus a reply from 
a $3000 man would cost $1.50, from a 
$5000 man $2.50, etc. These figures can- 
not of course be absolute. Since the cir- 
culation of newspapers varies from day 
to day no one can tell exactly what one 
advertisement will do on any given day, 
but if you wanted one thousand replies 
you could tell by getting twenty-five in 
advance, what the other nine hundred 
and seventy-five would cost, not to a 
cent, but near enough to be practical, and 
this is all any one wants. We are not 
hair-splitting and do not indulge in 
trifling arguments which waste time. 
All we want and all, we take it, you want 
is the meat of the subject and that's what 
we are going to give you. Albeit the cost 
of replies will be reasonable and you 
should be glad the newspapers are there 
as a means of getting you a valuable in- 
troduction at a price which, if it were 
twenty dollars each, is still ridiculously 
low. No doubt some of the readers of 
this book will be those who have placed 
one or two very small advertisements and 
failed to get a partner as a result. 
To these we have simply to say that they 
either had an advertisement which was 



SEVENTY-NINE 



Our Practcial Method 



Chapter Nine 

too small to attract attention or it was 
very poorly written or the paper in which 
it was inserted was of no value as an ad- 
vertising medium. The first or last 
causes being probably the correct ones, 
since almost any man of ordinary intelli- 
gence can write a properly worded ad- 
vertisement for this purpose. We are 
aware of course, that some advertise- 
ments are more flowery and catchy than 
others, but investors are not specially in- 
terested in flowing language nor long 
periods. What they want is facts and one 
man can present the truth about as well 
as another within reasonable limits. So 
if you have advertised and failed do not 
let that discourage you but put out a 
larger advertisement next time and try a 
different paper, unless you are sure of 
the one you already have in mind. As 
regards the size of the advertisement we 
want to assure you that an advertisement 
costing $10.00 is practically certain of 
bringing replies, and as far as the publi- 
cation is concerned if it is a choice be- 
tween daily or Sunday newspapers you 
should pick out the one having the most 
financial advertising as banks, etc., or 
the one having the most classified, busi- 



EIGHTT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nine 

ness chances or business opportunities. 
A casual glance will usually suffice to 
determine the one among several which 
should ordinarily be found to be the one 
most advisable for the expenditure. True, 
there are exceptions to most rules. But 
here is a rule which in nine cases out of 
ten will work out. You select the con- 
servative, not the radical paper; the 
truthful not the false; the substantial, 
not the trashy; the sensible not the sen- 
sational; the paper the business man 
dotes on, and such a paper will place you 
in possession of replies from sane sensible 
business men who have money and want 
more. We say financial advertising pays. 
But wait, our word is, unsupported, no 
better than v yours. That's our point. 
We would not make the statement if we 
were not sure it is true. Now when we 
tell you that a million dollars is paid to 
the newspapers of this country every 
week for just such advertisements as we 
are advising you to place, you may, per- 
haps, sit up and take notice. It is out 
of the question for a number of people 
spending that much money in one week 
to be deceived. They are not. They are 
right. They are wise. They have been 



EIGHTY-ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nine 

convinced by the logic of events, by the 
spirit of the times, by observation, by 
what not means, accident may be, a 
chance word, who knows? Most likely 
they saw the advertisements of others 
and followed blindly in their footsteps, 
hoping against hope the hint would take 
root and spring up a realization of an 
almost dead ambition. They were brave 
indeed to spend good money on as slight 
ahope as that kind of experience holds out. 
But you now have knowledge. You have 
a guide in this very book showing you 
every step of the way. Now what are you 
going to do? Are you goingto let the blind, 
led by the blind, win away your laurels 
when you have light and they none? 

If we could answer for you we would 
say, get ready an advertisement and 
make it big enough so as to be sure of 
replies. Insert at once, for just as sure 
as you become certain you can get replies 
this way your whole point of view will 
change. For when you get replies you 
will see at once it is only a question of 
time when you will get the money. Let 
this get thoroughly into your mind, let 
you only become sure that you can at 



EIGHTY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nine 

any time command capital and your 
troubles are over. Remember this Prac- 
tical Method is not for today nor tomor- 
row but for always. As long as you live, 
no matter how many times you fail in 
business, no matter what happens, you 
once get command of this capital raising 
method and you can then say with Sam- 
uel Lover "Circumstances are the rulers 
of the weak; they are the instruments of 
the wise." 




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EIGHTY-FIVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Ten 

'Light is the task where many share the toil. 

— Homer. 



rSTlY this time we will suppose you have 
LSJ done as much in the way of prepa- 
ration as you deem necessary and that 
you have placed your advertisements in 
the papers and received some replies 
thereto. You have looked over the re- 
plies, have located the investors, by tel- 
ephone number or street address and 
have determined by reading the letters 
as to which ones would be most suitable 
for your purpose. The next step is to 
see your landlord, meaning by that, the 
one of whom you expect to rent your 
business place. Explain to him that 
you are going to bring around to see him 
the man who expects to pay the rent and 
put in the stock of goods. Do not tell 
him that no arrangements have been 
made as yet, for that is none of his affair. 
Just make an appointment with him to 
see him at the proposed site the same or 
the next day (depending on how far away 
your investors live and how many favor- 
able replies you have had) ; also tell him 



EIGHTY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Ten 

to get the matter settled if possible. 
Then you can call on your best prospect 
and say to him you want him to go and 
look at your proposed location. Do not 
spend much time with him and do not 
allow yourself to get into an argument 
about the merits of your proposed enter- 
prise. He will respect you more if you 
hurry and will want to know you better 
and will think you act as though you 
meant business. Say as little as possible 
and you will in that way leave the best 
impression. Make an appointment to 
meet him at some place nearby your 
proposed location, but do not tell him 
exactly where that location is, unless you 
have to. Meet him at exactly the time 
specified an v d take him to see the land- 
lord. Introduce him to the landlord 
and trust the landlord to get a deposit 
on the rent or at least to get the lease 
signed. For be it known these landlords 
have had experience, they know how to 
act and what to say and, above all, they 
are not in the habit of working and talk- 
ing for nothing. So he may be depended 
upon to carry the investor off his feet 
and make him think that location is 
the best one available for your particu- 



EIGHTY-SEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Ten 

lar enterprise. He will also show him 
that others are after the same location 
and will by the tricks, wiles and cajolery 
of the clever landlord force the investor 
to a positive decision one way or the 
other. You could force him to decide 
if you wanted to, by asking him to put 
a few thousand dollars in the bank to 
your credit for use in the business. But 
that would not be clever nor tactful. 
The investor would say "no" at once and 
for all. But show him you have an eye to 
business, that it is not all talk, that you 
are willing he should be the payer of the 
bills, lead him to the landlord and let 
the landlord work on him, while you 
have done your part by the more quiet, 
but equally forceful, method of sugges- 
tion. Yes indeed this is the better way. 
Now let the investor and the landlord 
talk by themselves. Do not be too anx- 
ious to hear all they say. Be assured the 
landlord will do his best because he is 
looking out for himself and his rents. 
The first you know you will see them 
bargaining with each other and soon the 
landlord will by superior mental pro- 
cesses, have his bargain made, and will 
have something of value in hand to bind 



SIGHTY-EIG-HT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Ten 

the bargain. Those landlords are very 
smooth, cautious, careful. They do not 
like to have the same work to do over 
again so they make a desperate effort to 
close a deal, often themselves making a 
liberal concession, in order to get the 
matter settled and turn their attention 
to something else. This is one of the 
ways by which actions (suggestions) are 
used to accomplish something which 
words, on your part, might never have 
been able to do. You play the investor 
off against the landlord. Let Greek meet 
Greek. They will both lose sight of 
you temporarily. But when the smoke 
has cleared away the result usually is 
that the a landlord has a tenant and you 
have a partner. This is but natural, 
reasonable, right. It is far easier for 
the investor to put out the small amount 
for rent than it is for him to put several 
thousand in the bank for you to use, 
nobody knows how. Now it does not 
make much difference how small the rent 
is, even if it is only $25.00 per month, 
because ninety-nine out of a hundred 
men would sink $5000 to save a twenty 
dollar bill. It is strange, but true. It 
is the experience of mankind, it is a mat- 



EIGHTY-NINB 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Ten 

ter of such common observation that it 
needs no proof. Now another step. 
You will note that the very moment the 
investor pays the rent or gives security 
for such payment his attitude toward 
you will change. He will at once realize 
when it is too late to retreat, that he and 
you are partners. That being the case 
you will find him wanting to make ap- 
pointments with you, instead of you 
with him, as formerly, to talk over plans, 
stocks, fixtures, etc. No doubt at these 
interviews you will find proper occasion 
to say all you want to say about any- 
thing of a business nature. One word 
of caution here. Do not say anything 
about sharing profits or of partnership 
agreements until you get him to pay 
some more bills. Be sure he is in far 
enough so he can not back out then pre- 
sent your half interest partnership agree- 
ment to him with the assurance of cer- 
tainty that he will sign it. If you present 
it to him too soon he may want your 
work for less than half and you might 
be tempted to accept, which you should 
not do by any manner of means. You 
can get plenty of partners and one is as 
good as another, while they are yet 



NINETY 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Ten 

strangers. If your proposition calls for 
less than $10,000 you are entitled to half 
and you would be very foolish to accept 
less. Here again we are looking out for 
your interests. You cannot protect your 
self with less than a half interest and you 
should never enter into a business where 
you may be in a position to be dominated 
by some one else. You let him dominate 
until he is in to stay in, then you do some 
dominating on your own account. One 
thing more , do not bring up the 
subject of your salary or drawing account 
until you get the partnership contract 
signed. This may be hard to avoid but, 
if possible, do as we suggest. Because 
he will want you to pay your salary out 
of profits. But that may work to a great 
disadvantage to you and especially so 
if your business is only slightly profitable. 
Now what you want is half for your 
brains, intelligence, ability to manage. 
He gets half for the use of his money. 
If you actually work at the store regu- 
larly you get paid for that extra. And 
if he works he gets paid. That is fair, 
at least from your point of view, and you 
are not supposed to be looking at things 
from his point of view. If these vexing 



NINETY-ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Ten 

questions arise at all before the time for 
their settlement just tell him you are 
too busy or make some excuse like "we will 
will arrange all those little details to 
your entire satisfaction in due time," 
and when the "due time ,, arrives just 
arrange them to suit yourself. That's 
business, as it is being conducted today. 
Some one said he "looked out for number 
one" in just such a manner as this. 
Which, being translated means, "he al- 
ways got the best of every deal." Not 
much the best of it, to be sure, but just 
enough to be certain he was not himself 
the loser. The question which presents 
itself as a result of the reasoning in this 
chapter is this, "If an investor who re- 
plies to your advertisement in good faith, 
will not even pay the rent how could 
you get him to put money in the bank 
for you to use?" We claim it is incompar- 
ably easier to get him, by the rounda- 
bout suggestive method, to advance a 
small sum as a starter, than it would be 
to get a large amount from him by 
direct request on the strength of your 
unsupported word that such funds would 
be used wisely. Business is business. 
Rent is necessary, reasonable, just, right, 



NINETY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Ten 

business-like. Look at it as you may, 
investors are sure to appreciate the sen- 
sible, the ordinary, the usual methods, 
manners and customs of the business 
world. They regard the paying of rent 
as proper and something which has to 
be done. Now on your part you must 
make up your mind to get acquainted 
with your investor gradually. Treat him 
as well as you can, try to inspire confi- 
dence by every act and it will be only a 
question of time until your name will 
be on the checks equally responsible 
with his. 



"God has so ordered that men, being in need 
of each other, should learn to hear others bur- 
dens." — Sala. 



NINETY-THREE 



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MTNETY-PIVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Eleven 

"There is not one wise man in twenty that 
will praise himself." — Shakspeare. 



1 



IHEN a man blows his own horn 
they say he brags. But when some 
one else sounds his praises the words 
carry much weight. That is the reason 
for our advice in the last chapter, to 
quietly enlist the aid of the landlord, he 
being in a position to say things for you 
which you could not with propriety, 
say for yourself. Now we are going to 
outline another plan to be used in case 
the first one cannot be employed for 
any good reason. The landlord might 
be incompetent, which is not likely. 
But, if so, there are other ways. This 
second plan we consider fully as good as 
the first one, having, like all plans of men, 
its advantages and disadvantages. In 
this plan you will have more able assist- 
ance as a rule than in the first one. That 
helps. But to offset that your aid is 
not quite as easily controlled, also the 
amount of the first payment is likely 
to be larger. These two points we figure 
to be just about an even thing with the 
advantage mentioned and therefore we 



NINETY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Eleven 

believe this plan, while totally different, 
to be equally as effective as the first one. 
The procedure is as follows. You were 
advised earlier to make a list of all, or 
a goodly portion of the stock of goods 
required for your store. Now in case 
you decide to follow plan number two 
you should make up three or four of 
these lists and get prices on the stock 
from the various nearby wholesalers or 
jobbers in the lines you expect to carry 
in stock. Then find out the names of 
the traveling men who represent these 
houses in your territory. Get the in- 
formation as to when they will be in, 
or in close touch with, your city, and 
where they usually stop. If possible 
see the various ones personally and judge 
for yourself as to the most capable sales- 
man of the lot, if not take a chance on 
any one of them, for most traveling 
men are able to do what you want them 
to do. After you have got a line on the 
traveling men and their prices, etc., 
place your advertisement in the papers 
for an investor. Then you find out all 
you can about those who reply to the 
advertisement, pick out the most likely 
one, after short interviews, and ask him 



NINETY-SEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Eleven 

to meet "so and so" to look over some 
new goods. If he wants to delay tell 
him "so and so" will only be in town a 
few days and as he is supposed to have 
the best goods at the most reasonable 
prices you are most anxious the investor 
should see the samples before he leaves 
town. This, being a reasonable "urge" 
argument will usually bring an appoint- 
ment. If not successful, then send or 
take the traveling man to see the in- 
vestor. This latter course is not best, 
as, if the investor is at all interested, 
he will usually go to see the samples 
without protest. At all events you are 
to arrange a meeting between investor 
and drummer to the best advantage 
possible. Then trust the drummer to 
do his part and your confidence will not 
often be misplaced. The drummer, in 
an ordinary line, figures to sell, and does 
sell, to one out of three people who are 
at all interested in his wares. So if 
you have been reasonably diligent in 
securing the names of several investors, 
and have selected one who believes in 
your proposed business as a reasonable 
means of profit, we say, if you have done 
that, then your chance of securing a 



NINETY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Eleven 

partner is just the same as that of the 
traveling man who is making the sale, 
which is one in three. 

This means that in the natural course 
of human events, if you put three in- 
vestors through this process you would 
be entitled to secure one partner out of 
the three. Perhaps you say that's chance- 
Perhaps you are right, perhaps wrong. 
Let us see. "Chance generally favors 
the prudent." (Joubert). If you flip 
a coin once it may turn heads or it may 
turn tails. If you flip it twice it is still 
chance, but if you flip it a hundred times 
and keep count you will find the result 
will be close to fifty heads and fifty tails. 
If you put in a stock of goods in a store 
at Broadway and Twenty-third Street, 
New York, where they say more people 
pass daily than anywhere else in the 
world, you would be sure of some trade. 
But how would you know positively that 
a single soul out of all that multitude 
would see your sign and buy. You do 
not know, in theory. In practice you 
are absolutely certain. Now to get a 
little closer. Suppose you use the rifle. 
At thirty yards your record proves that 



NINETY-NIKE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Eleven 

you have for years been able to make 
fifty bulls eyes out of one hundred shots. 
Some one bets you $10.00 you cannot 
make ten bulls eyes out of one hundred. 
You take him up and win. You were 
so sure you would have bet $20.00 to 
$10.00 just as quickly. Now in theory 
you should not have felt so certain, but 
in practice you were absolutely sure, 
and that certainty won money for you. 
These homely illustrations are placed 
here to prove positively that in practice 
there is no such thing as chance. That 
every act, mental or physical, of a human 
being is the working out of a natural law. 
These laws are numerous and we do not 
know them all. But we know they exist 
as law because we can see such similarity 
in their results that we are forced to 
admit such is true. We can see their 
practical workings every day and if we 
are wise we shall take advantage of prac- 
tical experiences as shown in results, 
and not quibble over theories which at 
best are zero, until proven to be facts. 
There are no theories to be found in 
this book. Every move you are advised 
to make is one which has been tested by 
time and experience to and proven to be 



ONE HUNDRED 



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good in its place and for the purpose 
intended. Not once but many times 
have these plans been successfully em- 
ployed. Not always as a whole, to be 
sure, but a part here and a part there. 
Our aim then has been herein to gather 
and classify the facts of experience on 
this subject and present the more useful 
ones in such shape as to be of life-long 
benefit to the student of life as it is, not 
as the theorists think it ought to be. 



"There is no such thing as chance or accident; 
the words merely signify our ignorance of some 
REAL and IMMEDIATE cause."— Adam Clarke. 




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Chapter Twelve 

{ In life, as in chess, forethought wins." 

— Buxton. 



rt 



n 



iHERE is an other class of men with 
whom you are likely to transact 
business that could be of material as- 
sistance to you in case the first or second 
plan could not be, for any reason, em- 
ployed. 

You will need furniture, fixtures and 
supplies such as counters, shelves, books, 
safes, signs, card systems, perhaps, et 
cetera. Now any one of the persons of 
whom you expect to buy these supplies 
is apt to be as good a salesman as the 
drummer or as good a talker as the 
landlord, either of which is what you 
need to help you get the investor started 
in a small way. Remember your task 
is to see the first few dollars actually laid 
out for something of value in your pro- 
posed business. Do not lose sight of 
that fact for one moment. It is not so 
much a question of what the money is 
for, whether it is for rent, for an initial 
payment on a stock of goods, or for the 
purchase of fixtures or supplies. The 



ONE HUNDRED THREE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twelve 

idea is that any one of these classes of 
men are deeply interested in seeing you 
get started in business. The landlord 
hopes for a long lease, the drummer for 
a big, live account, and the fixture man 
knows you will need more in his line in 
the future. So you see each of these 
has more at stake than would, at first 
thought, seem an object. You can de- 
pend on them to do their best. Never 
fear about that part. They can hurry 
up the investor where you could not. 
They can urge, tease, browbeat, insist, 
cajole, argue, and with reasonable chance 
of success. You could not consistently 
do these things because the investor is 
bound to be suspicious of you for a time. 
He will always have a question in his 
mind about your real motives until you 
have convinced him beyond doubt as to 
your ability and honesty. Now the peo- 
ple whom we have suggested as aids to 
your efforts are in a vastly different and 
better position to argue with the in- 
vestor than you are. They are trying 
to sell him something that he can see 
with his eyes and feel with his hands, 
something tangible, real, and material. 
Something he knows you both must 



OOT3 HUNDRED FOITB 



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Chapter Twelve 

have in order to start your business. 
The appeal from them comes to him 
in a regular, ordinary businesslike way 
and is bound to be very effective. Did 
you ever stop to think that the average 
salesman will spend ten times as much 
labor and time in landing a new customer 
as in calling on his old ones? That's 
human nature. They think they are 
sure of their old customers and are often 
careless of them when, at the same time, 
they will spend all kinds of time and 
money and go far out of their way to 
get a new customer. Now the landlord, 
traveling man and fixture man are no 
exceptions to this rule. The landlord 
is not certain how long it will be before 
he gets another chance to rent his prop- 
erty so he is sure to make a hard fight 
for your investor's signature. The trav- 
eling man is working for his future 
orders so he is sure to put up his best 
argument. The fixture man is in the 
same boat as the others. Now these 
three classes of men are business men 
already. They are each and all working 
along familiar, well known lines. They 
are not nervous, excited, ill at ease as 
you are apt to be. They know their 



ONE HUNDRED FIVE 



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Chapter Twelve 

business, while capital raising, to you, 
is, no doubt, new and strange. Under 
such circumstances it is only reasonable 
that they should be more likely to suc- 
ceed in landing the investor, than you, 
unassisted, could possibly be. This 
brings up the question again, if the in- 
vestor will not pay the rent, will not buy 
the fixtures nor obligate himself for the 
stock of goods, how can you derive any 
benefit from him? If that proves to be 
the case, the sooner you know it the 
better, for then you can quit his trail 
and camp on some other lead until a 
more tractable investor is found. Allow 
us to say here that the extreme enthus- 
iasm of the ambitious often drives them 
into a condition of blindness to the 
real facts as they appear to the investor. 
After an energetic, progressive person 
has thought over a certain proposition 
for quite a period of time he becomes 
so imbued with the certainty of its 
money making qualities that he is quite 
apt to forget that the busy, cold-blooded 
investor does not know as much about, 
and has not dwelt as long upon, his pet 
scheme as he, himself, has done. There- 
fore the ambitious one is likely to feel 



ONE HUNDKZD SIX 



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Chapter Twelve 

that any man with loose pocket change 
ought to feel honored and proud to place 
it in his keeping for use in said pet prop- 
osition. This state of mind is not un- 
common among the inexperienced. But 
if you have ever felt that way we hope 
you will at once lay aside such day dreams 
and remember that no proposition is a 
sure thing until the profit has actually 
been made and is in the bank. Up to 
the time of the actual financial proof 
"the best laid plans o' mice and men 
gang aft agley." 

No matter how strong may be the con- 
viction in your mind that your plan of 
campaign in business will be a good one, 
it is still only a matter of opinion, not 
of fact. Since the investor has money 
while you are only hunting for money 
he is apt to think that his opinion is as 
good as yours, for which feeling one can 
hardly blame him. You will find the 
average investor will take much more 
kindly to your proposition if your es- 
timates of profits are in keeping with the 
ordinary, every day experience of man- 
kind than if they are outrageously ex- 
travagant. Just as sure as you promise 



ONE HUNDRED SEVEN 



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Chapter Twelve 

to make for him a lot of money more than 
he has made for himself he will get sus - 
picious of your motives and will com- 
mence to edge away. Do not forget that 
when you are seeking for money which 
he has, his position is slightly the more 
exalted of the two and his point of view 
must be carefully considered. It is much 
harder to keep money than to make 
money and the very fact that the in- 
vestor has more or less capital is proof 
positive that he is possessed of at least 
a modicum of wisdom. He is entitled 
to credit, therefore, for being to a cer- 
tain extent wise, and being wise, must 
be handled accordingly. In these last 
chapters we have presented the three 
cleverest plans for getting the money 
through other people, at no expense to 
you for commissions, and practically 
no expense of any kind, that we believe 
have ever been outlined in shape for use by 
ordinary people. Genius can always 
raise capital. Extremely clever people 
always get along in one way or another. 
So our work is not necessarily for men 
of genius, nor for the extremely clever. 
It is for people of the workaday world 
who get their share of earthly goods by 



ONE HUNDRED EIGHT 



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Chapter Twelve 

study, application and hard knocks. To 
these we sincerely hope this book will 
make life's pathway considerably easier 
and if its tenets are followed we are sure 
it will. 

"Few things are brought to a successful issue 
by impetuous desire but by common prudent 
forethought." — Thucydides. 




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Chapter Thirteen 

"Whoever fails to turn aside the ills of life by 
prudent forethought must submit to the course 
of destiny." — Schiller. 



ITftjje have already shown you three 
mAM ways by which you may obtain the 
capital through others and at practically 
no expense except the small amount of 
the outlay for advertising which is a 
negligible quantity. Now we are going 
to show you another way which is an ex- 
tremely successful one and which will 
cost you something, but you will get 
value received for your outlay and will 
accomplish an extra good for yourself 
besides opening up some new ideas on 
the ways of the world. It happens that 
in the last thirty years a new business 
of great magnitude has sprung up, namely 
the life insurance business. This has 
given rise to the needs of a great swarm 
of agents, the successful ones of which 
are necessarily a very clever, smart class 
of people. During the last decade the 
intense rivalry among the different large 
companies has driven the agents to all 
sorts of schemes in order to get various 
business men as well as other individ- 



ONE HUNDRED ELEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirteen 

uals into their lists of policy holders. 
You know the agent gets a big commis- 
sion on the first premium but also a 
liberal commission on each yearly re- 
newal so it is quite an object for him to 
get a new policy holder. Not only the 
immediate income, but each new cus- 
tomer is bound to bring one or more 
friends into the fold and this knowledge 
makes the insurance agent doubly anx- 
ious. Now this brings up a state of 
affairs of which you should take advant- 
age, provided there exist reasons why 
you cannot take advantage of either of 
the three previous plans. We suggest 
that you mentally examine the good 
points of the insurance men that you 
know. If you do not happen to know 
any of them, just call upon them saying 
you are thinking of insurance and they 
will do all the talking necessary. After 
looking them over carefully make up 
your mind as to which one has the best 
judgment and is the least fearless of the 
whole number. Then go to him and 
tell him you have planned to go into 
the store business and will take out a 
liberal policy with him provided he will 
interview one or two of your possible 



ONE HUNBBED TWELVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirteen 

investors and succeed in inducing one 
of them to become your partner in the 
enterprise. You can relate to him your 
ideas of the easiest methods, from notes 
you have taken of this book, though you 
should not let him see this chapter. 
When he finds out that you are willing to 
advertise for an investor and that he 
will only have to interview those who 
are at least partially interested you will 
see any slight hesitancy that he might 
have had will vanish at once and that he 
will be more than ready to do you a favor 
of this kind. 

He will indeed be anxious for it means 
money to him as well as to you. Now 
you need not hesitate to ask this favor 
of any insurance man whom you think 
capable. For, in reality, it is not a 
favor at all. It is placing him in the 
same position you are in, i. e., risking 
time for gain. There is no harm in 
your giving the insurance man a written 
agreement to take out what insurance 
you think you can stand, contingent 
upon his helping you to land a partner 
out of the prospects you obtain. An 
insurance solicitor is, in our opinion, 



ONE HUNDRED THIRTEEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirteen 

what might be justly called an "emer- 
gency man." He is, we believe, called 
upon more than any other class of men, 
to perform the unusual, to rise to emer- 
gencies, to accomplish the impossible, 
to succeed where others fail. So we do 
not hesitate to recommend you to him. 
He has done these very things in the past 
and has gone through much harder 
trials than the one you may call upon 
him to make. 

He is cool, calm, crafty, cunning. He 
is not easily turned from his purpose and 
if you can convince him by any manner 
of means that you will do your part to 
the letter, you will find in the insurance 
man a valuable ally and the investor 
will find in him a foeman worthy of his 
steel. He will have to keep his bank 
account guarded or else the insurance 
man will surely break down the bars 
of objection and with your assistance 
turn the coin to some more serviceable 
use. These solicitors are good talkers. 
They are perfectly at home when it 
comes to handling men, as that is their 
business. It will be strange if the one 
you select does not make the investor 



ONE HUNDRED FOURTEEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirteen 

think you are one of the cleverest men 
on earth before he finishes. That is 
what he should do and you may rest 
assured he will not waste his time. Time 
is money in the insurance business and 
if, after hearing your proposition, the 
insurance man decides to aid you it will 
be certain that he does it because he will 
believe he has as good a chance to assist, 
and also sell a policy, as he would to at- 
tend to purely insurance soliciting. The 
most of the insurance policies are sold 
in round about ways and your proposi- 
tion will not fall unkindly on the solic- 
itor's ears, because he is used to strange 
requests. They are not new to him and 
he will have more respect for you in 
trying to get assistance from those whom 
you will favor, if successful, than if you 
walked into his office and deliberately 
paid him a premium that he never had 
to do a stroke of work to obtain. Upon 
his expressing his willingness to do what 
he can for you we suggest that you go 
over the plans outlined in this book 
pick out the one which seems to him 
best and follow that plan as it is always 
better to have a definite mode of action 
to carry out. Win or lose on some spe- 



ONE HUNDBED FIFTEEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirteen 

cific plan is best for it is vastly more 
certain to be successful than by uncer- 
tain or wobbly methods. Then you do 
all of your part carefully such as your 
own preparation, securing location, ad- 
vertising for investors and getting in 
touch with them so a selection may be 
made as to the one to tackle first. Then 
make an appointment for yourself with 
the investor and take the insurance man 
along. Trust the insurance man to do 
the rest as he certainly will do it if it 
is within his power. To the insurance 
man the assisting of your plan would 
be just like selling a policy. So if you 
figure his chances of selling a policy to 
an interested party is one in three then 
your chance of securing a partner by 
this method ought not to be worse than 
one in four, after making the proper 
allowance for the insurance man having 
to tread on slightly different ground 
than that to which he has been accus- 
tomed. This plan is highly recommend- 
ed by us as one of the best. 

The insurance man is right at hand, 
easy of access, always ready and always 
enthusiastic. He is therefore greatly to 



ONE HUNDRED SIXTEEN 



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Chapter Thirteen 

be desired as an able aid in securing a 
partner, when other means fail, or can 
not be used. He can puff up your abil- 
ity to a much better advantage than 
you could possibly do and he has the 
nerve to say what he thinks will be effect- 
ive, all of which is an undoubted help, 
when applied as he knows so well how. 

"Dispatch is the life of business and method 
is the soul of dispatch." — Penn. 




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Chapter Fourteen 

"Accuracy and diligence are much more nec~ 
essary to a lawyer than great comprehension of 
mind, or brilliancy of talent. His business is to 
refine, define, split hairs." — Webster. 



m 



OUR lawyer is another valuable per- 
sonage who may be used to good 
advantage in assisting you to raise cap- 
ital at a very small expense. The law- 
yer's time is open to the purchase of the 
public on either legal propositions or 
legitimate business enterprises. Now 
lawyers are mostly clever people. Their 
education is such as to tend toward a 
superior clearness of understanding and 
lucidity of expression. Therefore they 
are well fitted both by education and 
experience to aid the uninitiated in be- 
coming established in business. Law- 
yers are much reviled by certain classes 
of ignorant satirists and no doubt there 
are some rascals in the legal profession. 
But be that as it may, the fact remains 
that the vast majority of attorneys are 
highminded people of a very superior 
order of intelligence, and business men 
of today would find life very uncomfor- 
table if it were not for the lawyers who 



ONE HUNDRED- TWENTY 



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Chapter Fourteen 

are, in effect, the father confessors of the 
merchants and manufacturers. As a 
matter of fact the lawyers are becoming 
more and more firmly established as 
"business advisers/' Criminal practice 
is constantly growing proportionately less 
when compared with the great increase 
of lawyers, population and civilization. 
Therefore the lawyers have found it 
necessary to devote an increasing portion 
of their talent to business practice. To- 
day it would be hard to find a lawyer of 
any considerable experience or reputa- 
tion who could not be of material ben- 
efit to one who is trying to get started 
in business for himself. The main ques- 
tion in dealing with a lawyer on business 
matters is to have a definite agreement 
with him as to fees. If you do not do this 
you are likely to be overcharged, not from 
his point of view, of course, but from 
yours. Yet even if he charges you an ap- 
parently high fee for his services, it would 
not be any comparison to what profes- 
sional financiers would charge, and the 
lawyer's services would be much more 
complete and perfect in detail than that 
of the professionals. We suggest the 
following plan as being the best way to 



ONE HTJNDEED TWENTY-ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Fourteen 

deal with lawyers on this subject and to 
be used only when the four previously 
suggested plans may not be used for 
reasons unknown to us. You should 
consider the lawyers in your neighbor- 
hood carefully. Call upon them if you 
think it advisable on the pretext of want- 
ing some advice regarding a partnership 
contract. You can talk with them about 
the terms of the desired contract and 
this will give you a chance to look them 
over and pick out one whom you think 
suitable to your purpose. A young law- 
yer will be less expensive and often just 
as capable as the older and more exper- 
ienced ones. After you find one whom 
you feel can accomplish the desired 
object, proceed at once to tell him what 
you want him to do and, after explain- 
ing your business thoroughly find out 
his charges. He will no doubt prefer a 
contingent fee, that is, a fee dependent 
on his success in securing the partner 
with your assistance. This contingent 
fee should not be over $50.00 for each 
$1000.00 which you are trying to raise. 
That would be a fair price, in view of the 
fact that you must do the preliminary 
work such as advertising and selecting 



OH HV3T9KED TWEHTT-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Fourteen 

from the resulting replies a suitable pros- 
pect. Many good lawyers would charge 
you much less than that, depending en- 
tirely upon the value they put upon their 
services. We consider the above men- 
tioned price a fair fee, however, and if 
you pay that you will not be overcharged. 
Again the lawyer will probably be satis- 
fied with a small portion of his fees upon 
the investor's signature and allow you 
to pay the balance along as you can. 
You pay nothing in advance on this plan. 
If you are pretty certain of the lawyer's 
ability you can get out cheaper by pay- 
ing him a stipulated sum say $5.00 or 
$10.00 or $20.00 for each interview with 
prospective investors. If he is alive to 
his work he will land one out of four or 
five and this would be in that case much 
cheaper for you than to pay him a con- 
tingent fee. However, that is a matter 
which you can easily arrange for if he 
is too high priced you can simply move 
on to the next one and you are bound 
to find one shortly that will do the work 
for a reasonable sum. 

Now as to the plan. 

Take up the subject with the attorney, 



OWE HTTITDRED TWliUTI 



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Chapter Fourteen 

go over the plans outlined in this book 
pick out the one he likes best and follow 
that one to the letter. He is much more 
likely to succeed on a plan that he, him- 
self has confidence in, than one of which 
he is afraid. After you have mutually 
arrived at a plan which seems to be best 
from all points of view, make paper notes 
of any suggestion he has to offer, then 
leave him temporarily. You must pre- 
pare yourself as well as possible, place 
the advertisements for investors, select 
the most available reply, make the ap- 
pointment (at the attorney's office, if 
possible) if not, when you go to keep the 
appointment take the attorney along 
with you. Place your confidence in him 
and you will not be far wrong. Be sure 
he will do his best. He will not only 
have his fee to earn but he will have in 
mind the future legal business of the 
new firm of which you expect to be a 
part. Lawyers are especially adapted to 
this class of work on account of a judi- 
cial mould of mind. This prevents them 
from getting away from the subject. 
It keeps them hammering away on one 
line and such a class of argument is good 
when it comes from an outside party, 



ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-POUR 



Our Practical Method 

Chapter Fourteen 

not from yourself. 

This quality of mind is also especially 
valuable when it comes to closing a deal 
and for that reason a lawyer is to be ac- 
counted among your best aids in busi- 
ness matters. 



"The expectations of life depend upon diligence; 
the mechanic that would perfect his work must 
first sharpen his tools." — Confucius. 




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Chapter Fifteen 

"Be more prompt to go to a friend in ad- 
ervsity than in prosperity." — Chilo. 



nO return briefly to the more inex- 
pensive plans. It is the desire on 
the part of the authors to present a suffi- 
cient number of different plans and only 
such as cost nothing or at least are, com- 
paratively speaking, so inexpensive that 
the cost is practically nil. It seems to 
us that the presentation of further plans 
are a waste of time. But still we are 
going to present a few others, so that 
every chance may be taken when the 
previous plans do not seem advisable. 
We consider any one of the five already 
described tQ be practically certain if per- 
severance is exercised for a reasonable 
time. However, all of us have friends. 
Some of them are very good friends and 
some of those good friends can talk well, 
clearly, convincingly. Therefore we are 
going to suggest as the sixth plan that 
you look over your friends and pick out 
the one whom you consider loyal, smart, 
clever, and withal, a good talker. Allow 
us to digress for a moment. If you 
went into a store and asked the best 



ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-SEVEN 



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Chapter Fifteen 

salesman what was needed to make a 
good successful clerk, he would tell you, 
if honest, that it is a capacity for atten- 
tion to little things. That among the 
many clerks there are only a few who can 
see quickly the points of objection and 
cleverly overcome them. That if the de- 
sired goods are not in stock a clever clerk 
will sell what is in stock, at the same 
time sending the customer away satisfied. 
Now apply this idea to your own position. 
You are wanting capital for business. 
This means that you are trying to sell 
a part of the future products of your 
brains for a consideration. Which to 
be plain, means that the better salesman 
you are the more likely you are to be 
successful in disposing of that part of 
your brain capacity. Which brings us 
back to the point of the illustration, that 
success in so doing can only come by 
salesmanship, or, an infinite capacity 
for details. You have, perhaps felt rea- 
sonably sure you could not raise the 
money yourself. You may feel the lack 
of experience or knowledge, that being 
true you must seek help. Now when 
you need a little aid where would you 
find a more earnest assistant than some 



ONE EUMDRE]) TWENTY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Fifteen 

good, clever, kind, firm friend. Nearly 
every one must have a close intimate 
that could be depended upon in an emer- 
gency like this. It does not require a 
business man especially. It needs some 
one who knows you, who believes in you, 
who will cover your faults and expound 
your virtues. One who is ever ready 
with a jolly reply, a good story, a happy 
thought. One who has your interest at 
heart and who is not afraid to say all 
the good things he knows about you at 
the opportune time. We suggest that 
you take such a friend into your confi- 
dence. Be very sure of his loyalty first. 
Then tell him all about your plans. Dis- 
cuss this book with him. Study the 
various plans of action and between 
yourselves, decide upon the adoption of 
the one which seems the best to both of 
you. Then put your advertisements in 
the papers, get the replies, look them 
over and go after them good and hard. 
Do your best, profit by your mistakes, 
and your chances of securing a partner 
by this method will be found to be very 
good indeed. One thing more. You 
will find your friend is likely to become 
deeply interested in these plans for rais- 



ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE 



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Chapter Fifteen 

ing capital. This is certain to be so if 
he is working on a salary and is ambi- 
tious. If you note a deep interest on 
his part it is only fair and just for you 
to suggest to him that if he helps you 
to get a start, you will do the same by 
him later. This will not cost you any- 
thing but spare time, will give you some 
good practice in capital raising and will 
make one hand wash the other in fine 
shape. Remember it is not so much a 
question of his ability being superior 
to yours. But the idea is that he can 
say things to the investor that would 
not sound right coming from you, and 
contrarily, you can do the same for him 
when he gets ready to become estab- 
lished. "Two heads are better than 
one." We have seen this statement 
proved true so many times that it ap- 
peals to us more as a demonstrated fact 
than merely as a saying. Two can think 
faster, overlook less, and, in fine, cover 
the small details with so much greater 
precision that we often think two heads 
are about six times as good as one in- 
stead of being just better. We also be- 
lieve in affairs of this kind that two are 
better than three. Two being appar- 



ONE HUNDRED THIRTY 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Fifteen 

ently just enough for the purpose we 
do not advise you to take more than one 
friend into your confidence at one time. 
Find out as nearly as possible about the 
likelihood of the first friend being the 
one who is able and willing to help and 
if not, quit wasting time with him and 
try the next best one. What you will 
need is moral support more than any- 
thing else. You will find ample provis- 
ion in this book as to how to obtain the 
capital yourself if you will only do it. 
These chapters on securing assistance 
are only placed here to aid the inexper- 
ienced, the bashful, the one who hates 
to take a turndown. To him who is 
nervy, ambitious, unafraid, courageous, 
we have only to say that he should find 
the way, described later, to be very easy 
without calling in a third party and with- 
out assuming obligations, which at best 
are annoying. 



"He is our friend who loves more than admires 
us and would help us in our great work." 

— Channing. 



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Chapter Sixteen 

"We make our fortunes and we call them 
fate." —Alroy. 



HMONG those who are qualified by 
experience, talent and occupation 
to aid in the raising of capital we know 
of few who possess these qualities to a 
larger degree than a newspaper reporter. 
He can talk fast, write fast, argue fast, 
and reason fast. And he can do all these 
things as remarkably well as he can do 
them quickly. We do not advise the 
securing of an extremely busy reporter's 
time, but we suggest that in the smaller 
cities and towns the reporters are not 
so busy, also in the cities the substitute 
or part time reporters may easily be se- 
cured to advance such a good cause as 
you consider yours to be. A little silver 
goes a long way when it comes to getting 
work done and we suggest that while 
a reporter could hardly be expected to 
expend his time without compensation 
yet a few dollars would in our opinion 
be well spent to secure the aid of a re- 
porter for three or four interviews. You 
know the city editor often sends a re- 
porter out after a story with orders not 



ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-THREE 



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Chapter Sixteen 

to come back without it. That makes 
them very keen for success and thus re- 
duces your chances for failure when 
your cause is championed by one of them. 
You should explain your position, look 
over the plans in this book, decide upon 
a course of action, place your advertise- 
ments in the papers, pick out the best 
replies and call upon them. The re- 
porter will do all the talking necessary, 
and if you do not obtain a partner by 
this method it will not be his fault. He 
will do his best and it frequently hap- 
pens that his best is a very positive good. 
A reporter is usually a very good judge 
of men and his opinion as to the likeli- 
hood of securing any certain investor 
ought to be of much weight. It will 
not always be necessary to pay him a 
certain fee, win or lose, because a great 
many of them would be more than glad 
to earn a larger fee in the event of win- 
ning. This latter course is probably better 
for you as the fee will not be of any large 
size in either case and by giving him a 
respectable object to work for you would 
be a little more likely to obtain your wish. 
We recommend the reporter as being 
wise, clever, tactful and persevering be- 



ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-FOUR 



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Chapter Sixteen 

yond his years. He is wary, resource- 
ful and courageous, and for these valu- 
able qualities is to be much desired for 
work of this kind which is, to be sure, 
a little out of his line, but to which he 
can just as easily adapt himself as to 
the writing of a new story or the report- 
ing of some new occurence with which 
he is not familiar. Reporters as a class 
are exceptionally clever men and as their 
knowledge is necessarily of such a varied 
character their assistance in obtaining 
the co-operation of an investor is indeed 
valuable. A reporter can also assist you 
materially in writing a catchy ad., in 
suggesting points for a brief prospectus 
and generally prove a great ally in plan- 
ning your . campaign for capital. We 
have now nearly finished with the list 
of persons in your immediate reach 
who could be, in our opinion, capable 
of and willing to be, of assistance to 
you. There are two more classes to be 
considered then we will show you how 
to go ahead on your own hook without 
asking odds of anyone. We believe you 
will be glad to try that method and we 
feel certain that if you do so you will 
never be in doubt again as to how to 



ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-FIVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Sixteen 

get a partner or raise a reasonable amount 
of capital if you need it. Perhaps you 
wonder why we have not advised you 
to go to the professional money raisers 
for aid. We reply they charge so much 
as to be as a millstone around your neck 
when you are first starting in business 
and when you need to be free from 
heavy obligations more than at any 
other time. Also they are as a class 
strictly unreliable. But more of that 
later. In a separate chapter we will tell 
you all about their traps to catch the 
unwary and so for a brief space we will 
return to our immediate business of 
suggesting what to do, instead of what 
not to do. 



"Fortune is ever seen accompanying indus- 
try." —Goldsmith. 




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Chapter Seventeen 

"No man is free who is not master of him- 
self." — Epictetus, 



EURING the last twenty years there 
has grown up a new profession or 

business. It is the advertising end or 
part of all business enterprises and its 
head man is called "ad. writer," "space 
salesman," "ad. manager," "word jug- 
gler," etc., ad. infinitum. We call him 
the advertising man and believe the word 
about expresses the functions of his po- 
sition. Now the advertising man of to- 
day, be he a large or small man, in a 
business sense, is considered to be 
one of the smartest men, as a class, the 
country produces. He is always looking 
for some new idea, some new experience 
upon which to build a business educa- 
tion. And add to that he is always hunt- 
ing the odd dollars, for his class of peo- 
ple know just as much about spending 
money as some people do about making 
it. He is sensible, talkative, wise, a good 
thinker and a good reasoner and in con- 
sideration of these good qualities we 
heartily recommend him to you as one 
easy to find, easy to interest, and of most 
valuable assistance in business matters. 



ONE HUNDBED THIRTY-EIGHT 



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Chapter Seventeen 

He can also help you to write a nice ad., 
aid you with ideas for the prospectus, 
stock list, in your own preparation for 
an interview, and in fact he can do al- 
most anything you want of him, except 
supply the money himself. Advertis- 
ing men are good spenders but they us- 
ually have forty schemes for every dol- 
lar they possess so they are poor people 
to get money from, but mighty good 
people to get money with. So much for 
the ad. man and his fitness to aid you. 
We said he is looking for odd dollars 
which is true, but he is also very active 
and extremely generous. If you are per- 
sonally acquainted with him he is almost 
sure to offer his aid free of charge upon 
request. But if he is a total stranger 
you would secure better co-operation 
from him and stand higher in his eyes 
if you at once offered to pay him, either a 
set price for each interview or a contin- 
gent fee upon your success, as you may 
see would be best or cheapest for your- 
self. With him you would proceed just 
as advised in the last few chapters. First 
explain what you desire to do, then go 
over the various plans in this book care- 
fully, pick out the one which seems to 



ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Seventeen 

him most feasible and proceed to try it 
out on that line. You will notice that 
in cases where we have advised you to 
obtain the aid of a lawyer, friend, re- 
porter, insurance man, or advertising 
man, we have advised you to select the 
plan in this book which, in each instance, 
appeals most strongly to the one whose 
energy you desire to enlist. For this 
reason. If you ask a man to do you a 
favor you are more likely to get his best 
endeavors if you allow him to do the 
favor in the way that seems best to him. 
Now in the matter under discussion it 
is bound to be a question of opinion as 
to which of you is right since no one 
can possibly know in advance which 
plan is the most advantageous one for 
a person surrrounded by your particu- 
lar environment. Therefore we draw the 
conclusion that you should be guided 
to a certain extent by the suggestions 
which your temporary abettor is sure 
to make. The results will be quicker 
and surer that way. To return to the 
special subject of this chapter. You 
have been advised so far to explain your 
desired business to the advertising man 
and between you select the plan of oper- 



ONE EUNDEED POETY 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Seventeen 

ations. Then place your ads. in the 
papers, secure the names of the investors 
and go after them on whatever plan 
you have mutually agreed is best. It is 
probably useless to repeat here that you 
should of course observe the comments 
in the chapter on your own preparation. 
This is very important and its advice 
should always be heeded prior to any 
attempt on your part to obtain capital. 
No matter how smart may be the man 
whom you expect to aid you, be sure 
his efforts will be fruitless unless you, 
yourself, on your own foundation, can 
present a good front and convince the 
investor beyond doubt that you know 
what you are talking about and can 
make him v some money. Your appear- 
ance, the way you act, what you say 
and do, are the things which carry weight 
to the investor's mind and give him the 
suggestions of successful business with 
you at the helm. We said "what you 
say" is one of the things which carry 
weight. This statement must be qual- 
ified. "What you say about your pro- 
posed business," does carry weight and 
much weight. But "what you say about 
yourself" is worthless and might better 



ONE HUNDRED FOCRTY-OITE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Seventeen 

be left unsaid. Because the investor 
will look you over and form his own 
impression, subjectively, from the sug- 
gestions which reach him from your 
appearance, apparent knowledge and 
enthusiasm. Now anything you might 
say regarding your own good qualities 
is not likely to change his subjective 
impression. Therefore such argument 
is a decided waste of valuable time. But 
we have not left you to face this peril 
alone. We have given you in the last 
few chapters a definite detailed descrip- 
tion of the kind of men to interest and 
take with you, or send before you, if 
necessary, to say the things to the in- 
vestor about you personally which will 
influence him rightly when coming from 
them but very likely would operate dis- 
advantageous^ when coming from you. 
These men will aid you materially, but 
do not place all your eggs in one basket. 
Do not expect them to do all that is to 
be done. Prepare yourself thoroughly, 
look well to your own personal appear- 
ance, be as natural and business like 
as possible and all will be well with you. 
Success should surely crown your efforts 
and with the exercise of a little patience 



ONE HUNDRED FORTY-TWO 



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Chapter Seventeen 
on your part we are sure it will. 



"He that can have patience can have what he 
will." — Franklin. 




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ONE HUNDRED FORTY-FOUR 



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Chapter Eighteen 

( Politics is the art of being wise for others." 

— Bulwer. 



HOLITICS has come to be a ruling 
power in many lines of business* 
In the olden days it was regarded as an 
exclusive science, and included only the 
methods of government and preserving 
order. But nowadays a single city may 
be larger, more valuable and more pop- 
ulous than a whole country was then. 
So with the great increase and compli- 
cation of methods of transportation, 
building, manufacturing, production of 
food, clothing, etc., the art of the poli- 
tician has grown until today the success- 
ful politician must either be a business 
man himself, or at least have a large 
practical knowledge of business meth- 
ods. For practical politics today is no 
longer in the grasp of the orator, spell- 
binder or public speaker. It is a matter 
of business (dollars and cents) and as 
such is dominated by business men, 
thus substituting those who act in the 
place of those who talk. This we believe 
to be a distinct public advantage. How- 
ever, it is not our purpose to discuss 



ONE HUNDRED PORTY-PXVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Eighteen 

politics at all, as we only wanted to show 
how strong a hold business has upon 
politics and vice versa. This may be 
turned to good account. Suppose you 
know a good, hard working politician 
in your neighborhood who also knew 
something of business matters. Suppose 
you went to him, explained your plans, 
showed him this book and went over 
the various plans with him. 

Suppose you say "now you aid me in 
securing a partner on one of these plans 
and — when you need help count me in." 
This does not obligate you to do any- 
thing against your conscience, but it 
does obligate you to help him person- 
ally, more than you would otherwise 
have done, in case your conscience per- 
mits you to help him at all. Every man 
is the keeper of his own concsience and 
no small obligation such as a little bus- 
iness favor is likely to place a man in 
the position of selling his liberty. Not 
at all. 

It simply means that in case you were 
not in a position to judge the merits of 
opposing candidates you would then aid 
by vote, influence and time the man who 



ONE HUNDRED FORTY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Eighteen 

had aided you, in preference to your 
party. This we consider strictly legit- 
imate, just and right. Every man should 
consider his own future (and that of 
his family) first. This is borne out by 
the constantly increasing list of inde- 
pendent voters. It shows that people 
are gradually refusing to be dominated 
solely by party influence, which refusal is 
good for the individual, and it seems to us 
what is good for the individual must be 
good for the nation in the long run. Now 
the idea is for you to place your desires 
before such a politician as you think 
may have some influence. Then place 
your ad. in the papers, secure ten or 
fifteen replies and take them to him for 
inspection.* Out of these you are rea- 
sonably sure to have several of his polit- 
ical faith and some of them quite cer- 
tain to be known to him personally or 
at least he will know of them and about 
them. Then the closing of a deal be- 
comes a comparatively simple matter. 
With the aid of the politician to assure 
previous acquaintance with, or knowl- 
edge of you, it should be no trouble to 
get the investor to pay the rent, buy the 
fixtures or make a secured agreement for 



ONE HUNDEED FORTY-SEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Eighteen 

a stock of goods. This is all that is 
necessary for the start as the investor 
is not likely to go to any of these expenses 
unless he is prepared to furnish the 
balance of the money required for the 
transaction. Talk, study, investiga- 
tion, brings ideas and opportunities. 
We shall later show where advertising 
for a partner always brings a certain per- 
centage of replies from investors who 
have plans of their own, different from 
yours, perhaps better. It works simi- 
larly in the case of the advertising man, 
the politician or any of the other indi- 
viduals whom we, in this book, have sug- 
gested as being possible aids for you in 
raising capital. A great many of them 
are quick minded, alert and clever and 
they will look you over, making such 
suggestions and offering such hints as 
may be deemed advisable under the cir- 
cumstances. It remains for you to sort 
out this information, retaining and act- 
ing on what seems to be good and casting 
out the bad. "It is the unexpected that 
always happens." Not altogether true, 
we think. But it frequently happens and 
often enough to make a big percentage 
in favor of the seeker for capital. We 



ONE HUNDEED FORTY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Eighteen 

believe that when you start out to hunt 
for money with which to do business, 
you will find that your chance for bet- 
tering your present condition, in other 
ways than you expect, will be at least as 
good as one in four. So eager is the world 
to welcome ambition. So generous is 
the reception of him who really tries. 
So quick the ear of sympathy for the 
struggles of the deserving. 

But sympathy, generosity and aid come 
only from those who are of sufficient 
"class" to know what hardship has meant 
but who have lifted themselves out and 
away from the slough of despond. The 
middle class, we mean, who are not so 
far advanced that they cannot reach back 
occasionally and grasp the outstretched 
hand of the ambitious one giving him 
a lift along life's way. The better por- 
tion of the middle classes are the ones 
who usually answer ads. for capital, and 
they are the most desirable. 

They have just arrived at a point where 
they see the need of more money, where 
they could better their standard of liv- 
ing with a bigger income. So they are 
just in your position from one view point. 



ONE HUNDRED FORTY-NINE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Eighteen 

You want money to use and they have 
money but want to make more. Indeed 
it may be said that every man of means 
is a fit subject for the advances of the 
promoter. The only requirements being 
that the man must be "right," the prop- 
osition "right" and the moment op- 
portune. 



"Money is of little value to its possessor, unless 
it also has value to others/' — L.\Stanford. 




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ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-ONE 



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Chapter Nineteen 

'Confidence imparts a wondrous inspiration 
to its possessor and bears him on in security," 

—Milton. 



FjlAVING spent considerable time and 
HI valuable space in showing you how 
to get some one else to do your work for 
you we are now going to devote a little 
space to showing you how to do it for 
yourself. We would follow this plan 
were we in your place. We would not 
fuss with any roundabout method. But 
we realize fully that most readers of 
this book will be inexperienced as far 
as capital raising is concerned. So we 
have taken extra pains in mapping out 
the easier ways for them to proceed. But 
we would not be doing justice to the 
more clever and farther advanced ones 
among our clientele if we did not include 
the shorter way described in this chap- 
ter. While the roundabout methods 
are undoubtedly better for the unitiated 
yet the direct method is quicker and 
is in many ways advantageous. The 
book would not be complete without 
this chapter for it is a little more secret in 
operation and therefore advisable for 



ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nineteen 

many. We have previously suggested 
that you interest some one of various 
possible persons to act for and with you 
in trying to influence the investor. Here- 
in we suggest that you act for yourself 
and thus save valuable time and any 
undue publicity which is liable to be 
attendent upon the spreading of your 
ambitions through too many minds. 
Since in following this plan you are to 
depend more upon yourself than upon 
the aid of others you should be more 
careful about your preparation. We do 
not doubt you will do this, because we do 
not believe you would try it, all by your- 
self, unless you felt your class of intelli- 
gence was just a little better than the 
average. In that case you need not fear 
but follow the plans laid out at once. 

You should realize, we think, about 
where you stand in educational matters 
compared to your fellows, also as to 
your fitness to operate successfully your 
proposed enterprise. If there is any 
doubt in your mind about your ability 
to convince a stranger of your capacity 
for business you should certainly try 
one of the other plans in this book. But 



ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-THREE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nineteen 

if you feel perfectly capable do not hes- 
itate but plunge right in for "he who 
hesitates is lost." Look well to your 
personal appearance lest some glaring 
defect create a false impression in the 
mind of the investor and you thus lose 
all the good effect of a presentation. 
The first thing to do, after looking your- 
self over carefully to see all the points 
of preparation have been made, is to 
place your ads. in the papers calling for 
investors. The next thing is to guard 
against discouragement, for just at this 
point is where most of the ambitious 
ones fail. They get afraid to spend the 
money for an ad. or if they place an 
ad. at all they put two or three lines in 
one paper and call that a fair test. Now 
do not deceive yourself, as many do. 
They argue that two lines are as good 
as four, that ten are as good as twenty, 
that fifty are as good as a hundred. 
That argument is bad, false, untrue, 
dangerous, and we believe has forced 
more men to work for a living on a sal- 
ary, when they could have been employ- 
ers, than all other reasons put together. 
We doubt not ten million people have, 
in the last ten years, considered adver- 



ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-FOUR. 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nineteen 

tising as a means of securing capital. 
How could they avoid it since the evi- 
dence of what others do is constantly 
before them. But to "consider" was as 
far as they ever went. Why? Fear, ig- 
norance, stinginess, mostly the matter. 
It is strange to us how a man in the full 
possession of his senses can ever let a 
ten dollar note stand between him and 
success. But it does. The erring ones 
do not know that, perhaps. That is, 
they believe in advertising, they know 
it is recognized and that it usually pays 
others but they cannot see how it can 
ever pay them. Why not? Surely a 
page of a newspaper is no respecter of 
persons, so why should not one man's 
ad. be as profitable as another's, granted 
equally favorable circumstances? We can 
easily tell you how it works out for the 
inexperienced. They see the ads. of 
others and finally make up their minds 
to try. Then they sit down at home 
and commence to figure the cost. They 
find out the ad. they had prepared is 
going to cost thirty cents more than they 
had expected so they cut it down a little. 
That process works so well that they 
get the brilliant idea that it would do 



ONE HTJNDKED FIFTY-FIVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nineteen 

just as well to cut it down some more. 
This process goes on until they take the 
ad. to the newspaper and there they 
find some good reason to chop out a few 
more words until finally they insert 
two or three lines and expect to pull 
five thousand dollars with a fifty cent 
investment. What nonsense. You may 
think this overdrawn. Quite the con- 
trary. We said ten million people had, 
in ten years, no doubt considered adver- 
tising as a means of raising capital. But 
if the great truth were known, we should 
find that nine million out of the ten 
million never got so far as to write the 
ad. to say nothing of reducing its size 
or quitting after once deciding. So tight 
is the human purse string. But this 
is something which works both ways. 
This very tendency keeps millions out of 
the running. So it is not an unmixed 
evil after all. Only beware you do not 
join the nine million. 

Here is a grand object lesson in money 
raising. If it is hard for you to let loose 
of a little money when you are not sure 
of results, how much harder must it be 
for the investor to give up a deal of money 



ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nineteen 

for a similar reason. So we say with as 
much earnestness as may be expressed 
by ink that we hope and trust you will 
put out a decent sized ad., if you put 
one out at all. Do not be afraid of a 
ten or twenty dollar bill when it comes 
to advertising for capital. Kiss the 
money a fond good bye, charge it up to 
experience and let it go at that. But 
if the results teach you what they 
should, viz: — that you are bound to win 
in the long run, you will be indeed happy. 
Happy in the positive assurance of your 
own mind that you are on the right 
track. That it is only a question of a 
short time when you will be giving com- 
mands to others, instead of humbly tak- 
ing commands yourself. The whole ques- 
tion of self-confidence here lies in the 
getting of the first half dozen replies. 
That ought to be enough. But you can 
afford to practice on them knowing full 
well that you can get more in the same 
manner. Not all millionaires, perhaps, 
although even they have been known 
to read a newspaper. Why not. Since 
they are all advertisers is it strange that 
they should look over the announce- 
ments occasionally to see what others 



ONE EUNTDSED PIFTY-SEVE2T 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nineteen 

are trying to accomplish? Not at all. 
On the other hand there is no class 
quite so anxious for new and attractive 
propositions as wealthy men. They live 
by the labor of others and they want to 
continue doing so. Also there is always 
some neighbor who has more than they 
and jealousy here steps in to favor the 
ambitious learner. These reasons apply 
with increasing force all the way up 
from the man who has a thousand in 
spare cash to him who has the coveted 
million. The more money one has the 
more he wants and the more chances 
he will take to get it. This is the uni- 
versal rule, the exceptions being so few 
as not to be worth mentioning. We are 
laying great stress on the question of 
your initial expense for advertising, for 
the best of reasons. The authors of 
this book have spent hundreds of thous- 
ands of dollars for advertising and are 
therefore entitled to know, without ques- 
tion, as to what may reasonably be ex- 
pected from it. Therefore when we ad- 
vise you to be liberal in your first ad. 
we have a definite purpose in view. We 
want you to succeed. Not that it will 
help us in the least. Most likely not. 



ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nineteen 

But we did not write this book for pleas- 
ure. We wrote it for money and if we 
did not expect to make a lot of money 
out of its sales we would not have 
bothered ourselves with it. And in ad- 
vising you as to a definite course of 
action we want to make the impression 
strong enough so you will do as we ad- 
vise. Why? Because it is simple justice 
to you, no more, no less. We could 
not do less and be fair to you, to say 
nothing of the clean conscience in our 
own breasts which comes of a know- 
ledge that one has done all he could. It 
is true we sell our knowledge for money. 
But it is of such a class that, used prop- 
erly by you, it should produce a thousand 
fold in results. We cannot make that 
clear now, but "we climb by the things 
that are under our feet," and if you will 
just study advertising, not only in its 
relation to money rasing, but also in 
its relation to selling goods you will one 
day see clearly from our point of view. 
To return to our chapter. Put in an 
ad. large enough to attract several re- 
plies. Look them over carefully, call 
upon the one that looks best, tell him 
what you would like to do, and then 



ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE 



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Chapter Nineteen 

frankly say to him you are willing to be 
guided by his advice. That you would 
like to get along faster, that you believe 
you are capable, and that you are willing 
to work. Then just throw the whole sub- 
ject on his mercy, as it were, and ask him 
to tell you what he thinks you ought 
to do. "You can catch more flies with 
molasses than with vinegar," therefore 
in this first interview you should be all 
humility. Your time will come. But 
wait. Play the listening part. You 
know it takes a smart man to be a lis- 
tener. Say just enough to draw him 
out and keep him talking. If you will 
just do that he will presently tell 
you what he has in mind. He will ask 
you about your desired location. This 
gives you a chance for an appointment 
to go see the place and incidentally call 
on the landlord. Or he will ask you 
where you expect to buy your goods. 
This provides another opening. If you 
will just be free and easy, content to 
let him talk he is almost certain to show 
you the way and point out, by suggestion 
just the course for you to pursue. It 
seems an axiom of human nature that 
if "you give a man enough rope he will 



ONE HUNDRED SIXTY 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nineteen 

hang himself." Nowhere on earth does 
that homely expression work out to 
plainer or better advantage than in 
capital raising. Almost as sure as that 
the sun will rise is your investor certain 
to open his heart and purse to you if 
you will but let him. A little clever- 
ness on your part, a good deal of pa- 
tience, good judgment and caution and 
you need have no fear of the result. There 
is one other point which is of nearly, 
if not quite, as much consequence as 
the placing of a good sized ad., and re- 
lates to an ungrounded fear which many 
have of meeting strangers. This is, of 
course, senseless, almost, we might say, 
idiotic if it were not so common as to 
render the latter term opprobrious. The 
psychologists tell us fear is a reversion 
or "throwback" to a few thousand years 
ago, when the human family lived 
in trees and caves and were in constant 
danger of their lives from the onslaughts 
of wild animals. We doubt not this is 
true. To see the apparent timidity with 
which some people approach a stranger 
one would fain believe they were haunted 
by the ghosts of the wild animals which 
threatened bodily our forefathers of 



ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Nineteen 

wilder days. But this is easy to over- 
come and if you are ever affected 
in such a manner we suggest that 
you carefully look each one of your 
acquaintances in the eye while talking 
to him and in a very few hours that tim- 
idity will vanish. 

If that is unpleasant, try a job as a book 
agent (or similar one) for a few days and 
you will be forever rid of those thump- 
ings and pulsations which often mar 
completely the good effect of what would 
have been, otherwise, a valuable inter- 
view. You could overcome that if you 
had to, then do it for a much sounder 
reason, because you want to and it means 
money for you if you do. 

1 H Fields are won by those who believe in win- 
ning." — T. W. Higginson. 




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Chapter Twenty 

"Progress is the activity of today and the 
assurance of tomorrow." — Emerson. 



NE need not travel far nor be very 
observant to notice signs of pros- 
perity on the part of retail merchants. 
Montgomery Ward & Co., Sears, Roe- 
buck & Co., John Wanamaker, Marshall 
Field & Co., are names familiar to every 
youth and represent millions of profits 
accumulated in retail stores. They had 
no special secret of success. They sim- 
ply applied the ordinary progressive rules 
of business, did some judicious adver- 
tising and made money. Their stores 
were well organized to handle a business 
like theirs/ Yet in each and every case 
one lifetime was enough to do the trick. 
The opportunities now are greater than 
then because of more population, more 
money per capita, larger and better news- 
papers for advertising purposes and better 
facilities for transporting the output. In 
fact there are hundreds of stores today as 
large or larger than any of the ones men- 
tioned were, say, twenty years ago. A 
big department store has become so com- 
mon that they no longer excite comment. 



ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-FIVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty 

The question today is one of the fitness of 
the man himself and does not depend 
upon competition as some would have us 
believe. The right man will do the com- 
peting himself and will not stop to argue 
about the strength of the showing some 
other store keeper is making. Each one 
of the big stores referred to was started in 
a small way and gradually developed into 
something worth while. Business runs 
in streaks to a certain extent and this is 
particularly true of small enterprises. 
These may be affected by weather, labor 
troubles, public caprice and in a dozen 
other ways made to shake and tremble. 
When a business gets large it is not so apt 
to be shaken by every breeze that stirs. 
Ordinary disturbances do not affect it at 
all, and the larger ones only temporarily. 
Taking it all in all, we think a good sub- 
stantial store business is about as good a 
berth as the ordinary person need wish 
for and we earnestly advise any of our 
readers who are contemplating entering 
a retail line not to hesitate for one mo- 
ment. 

You will find it easier to raise capital for 
a store than for any other purpose and 



ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty 

such a business is permanent and sub- 
stantial. Many people, we are aware, 
run madly after the new untried propo- 
sitions. Luck enters into new schemes 
to a great extent. One has nothing to go 
by. No friend's experience to guide him. 
No everyday examples to keep his steps 
from straying from the narrow business 
path. No large field of trained labor 
from which to select his help, and then, 
the banks are afraid of new schemes. 
They like to loan money to business men 
following the old tried methods and we 
cannot blame them for they are right. 
So you see there is every advantage of 
safety in retail business. Your only con- 
cern is competition and by a little careful 
study of advertising you will have no 
trouble in overcoming that. Will your 
competitors advertise? Yes, but just cas- 
ually. They will not make a study of it 
as we advise you to do, and thus you will 
have them completely handicapped. 



"Every age has its problem, by solving which, 
humanity is helped forward/' — H. Heine, 



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Chapter Twenty-one 

"As every thread of gold is valuable so is every 
moment of time' 9 — J. Mason. 



m 



HAT is time? What is it worth? 
Why do some value it so highly while 
others treat it as though it were eternity? 
What is time to you? Do you save time or 
do you waste it? Suppose you are plan- 
ning on a business proposition. Suppose 
it works out as you expect and a year from 
now you make fifty dollars a day clear. 
That's three hundred a week or twelve 
hundred a month. But on the other 
hand, suppose results to be the same, 
except you put off starting it for a month. 
Then at the end of the year you are twelve 
hundred dollars worse off for the wasting 
of a month which, just now, may seem 
worthless. Let's figure it another way. 
Suppose you intend to start, just as in the 
first illustration, put it o ff for a month, as 
before, but at the end of the year's busi- 
ness you fail. Then you fail one month 
later than you should have done and have 
lost a month of time. In either case you 
lose. In the one money, in the other 
time, which is money. This is placed here 
to prove in a homely way, the value of 



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Chapter Twenty-One 

time. Our lives are short at the best, and 
time is all we have. We cannot even be 
sure of that. Guard each moment then 
for when it is gone no other moment may 
take its place. In your wanderings for 
capital, whether alone or with others to 
help, you will find a few prospective inves- 
tors who will insist on fooling away your 
time and making endless excuses and 
appointments perhaps, which they never 
intend to keep. These pests are hard to 
get rid of, we know, for there is always a 
hope that, although apparently insincere, 
the tardy one will finally keep an appoint- 
ment and agree to a business proposition. 
Time is too valuable to waste with such 
people. You will see the difference at 
once, upon interviewing a half dozen 
investors, between the ones who are in 
earnest and those who are not. Those 
who are vacillating, weak or unreliable 
should be cut off at once and no further 
attention paid to them. Life is too short 
and live, interested investors are too 
plenty to make it worth while to spend 
much time with the few who partly prom- 
ise every thing and fulfill nothing. This is 
another point where our method surely 
clears the rubbish away. Suppose you 



ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -One 

take him to see the landlord or the drum- 
mer or the fixture man and he fails to pro- 
duce in either case. What good is he 
then? Yet something might lead you to 
believe he could be talked into signing an 
agreement. Then you mentally go over 
the others we have suggested as aids, as 
the lawyer, reporter, insurance man, 
friend, politician, etc. Select the most 
convincing, available one of the lot, take 
him to the investor and if he still holds 
back his consent mark him as a "dead 
one" as far as you are concerned. Just 
forget you ever heard of him and put the 
next one over the same route. But do 
not waste time in doing it and above all 
do not get discouraged. 

"Stick to your aim. The mongrel's hold 

will slip, 
"But only crowbars loose the bulldog's grip 
"Small as he looks the jaw that never 

yields, 
"Drags down the bellowing monarch of 

the fields.' ' 

We consider the raising of an ordinary 
amount of capital to be a comparatively 
easy proposition. Especially is this true 
by the use of our method. But we know 



ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -one 

there are combinations of circumstances 
which may make such an attempt, for a 
time, at least, a very serious matter. For 
that reason we most earnestly urge you 
not to allow yourself under any circum- 
tions to lose faith in our method, for it 
will surely bring you safely through in the 
long run. More particularly do not waste 
time. That is a crime when its careful 
use may help you so much and when you 
most certainly stand in need of that very 
assistance. But beware of worry. For 
that is a worse crime than a waste of time, 
if possible. It not only causes loss of 
sleep and actual illness in many cases but 
it is also a waste of needed energy. These 
days one can get a lot of amusement out 
of a small sum invested in a comic paper 
or a moving picture show. It is a ques- 
tion of will power. If one is accustomed 
to better he must content himself in pati- 
ence until he accomplishes something to 
earn the better. 

Not that we advise cheap living or cheap 
things. We abhor them. Mark Hanna 
said i 'Cheap means nasty," and it is often 
true. Yet it is only temporary, and must 
be so regarded, lest one gets into a rut of 



ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty-One 

cheapness and strive no higher. But the 
proposition is like this — one wants to get 
a start in business but is living up to or 
beyond his means. He knows in getting 
a partner or raising capital there are some 
small but necessary expenses to be met. 
What is one to do? Simply make the 
sacrifices necessary and get the start. 
That is all there is to it. Either live on 
less, and save — get a better job, and save, 
or else keep on working for others the rest 
of his natural life. Now, if this proposi- 
tion comes up to you face to face, what do 
we advise? Why, meet it like a man, of 
course. That is the only thing to do. 
But do not think you are the only one to 
make sacrifices. It is the universal experi- 
ence of mankind. It is good for people to 
strive, even desperately, if need be, for a 
certain goal. When secured, it will be 
appreciated. Life is a constant struggle 
anyway. First to get a job, then to get 
into business, then to make money, then 
to keep it and let us hope you will be so 
successful you will need an Act of Con- 
gress to help you give it away. 



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Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -One 



"God, who is liberal in all his other gifts, 
shows us by the wise economy of his providence, 
how circumspect we ought to be in the manage- 
ment of our time, for he never gives us two 



moments together.' 



-Fenelon, 




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Chapter Twenty-two 

"He who dares not reason is a slave." 

— Sir W. Drummond, 



nN the last fifty years a new method 
has sprung up for marketing wares 



of various kinds. We refer to what has 
come to be popularly known as the "mail 
order business." This is hardly a fair 
title for there are many different branches 
of business operated under this heading. 
In fact almost any kind of a known enter- 
prise could be operated in a mail order 
way and most enterprises now support a 
mail order department, at least, if not 
large enough to be dignified by the name 
branch. Some of our readers will no 
doubt have a mail order business in mind 
so we give here a few hints on the securing 
of the capital. The method of procedure 
is much the same as it would be in the 
case of a retail store. The landlord may 
be used to get the rent paid, the drummer 
to get a payment on a stock of goods or the 
fixture man to help get the investor to 
order the necessary fixtures. These plans 
are the best that can be advanced and 
cover the situation almost perfectly. 
But there are two items which enter 



ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Two 

largely into a mail order business. Adver- 
tising and printed matter. These two 
are a large portion of the expense and in 
fact are the life of a mail order business. 
While both are used to a certain extent in 
most other enterprises, they are not 
nearly so prominent in other branches of 
business. Therefore they must be con- 
sidered when an attempt is made to raise 
capital. In this case the printer could be 
of material assistance in helping to secure 
an order for printed matter from the 
investor. But the advertising is a big co- 
sideration and the men who sell adver- 
tising are men familiar with money mat- 
ters and easily capable of assistance. 
They usually have a world of experience 
and can be relied on to do their part. 
Every large city has numerous advertising 
agencies and it is therefore a matter of no 
particular trouble to get in touch with 
them and arrange for a portion of the 
time of one of the solicitors. Now, in the 
mail order business one never knows how 
large an account may grow from nothing. 
It is a matter of common experience to 
see a mail order account grow from an 
original appropriation of two hundred 
dollars a month to the magnificent pro- 



ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY-SEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Two 

portions of two hundred thousand dollars 
a year. An account like this is well worth 
while having to an advertising agency. 
Therefore they will go considerably out of 
their way to get it and rest assured that 
if you and your proposed business looks 
good to them they will leave nothing 
reasonable undone to help you on your 
way. They will aid you in landing an 
order from a partner of your own selec- 
tion, they will advise and assist you in 
securing another one, failing the first, 
they often take an interest in new propo- 
sitions on their own account and they 
often deliberately extend a reasonable 
credit on the start in cases where they 
think the proposition itself and the man 
behind it are worthy of confidence. Be- 
sides all this an advertising agency can 
suggest ads., aid in preparing printed 
matter, offer plans for the actual opera- 
tion of the business, are familiar with and 
can tell of the experience of others and are 
thus the very people who can aid you most 
both in obtaining a partner, in raising 
capital by other means and in the actual 
getting the start in the first place and in 
promoting the best interests of your busi- 
ness afterward. Not only that but the 



ONE HUNDBED SEVENTY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Two 

help of the agency costs you nothing. 
Their fees come in the form of commis- 
sions which the newspapers pay them for 
securing the advertising. It is true that 
their commissions will be added to your 
bill for advertising and you will then 
think that you are the one to actually do 
the paying of that commission. That 
conclusion would be hasty and incorrect. 
Because the same advertising would cost 
you more than the total bill if you placed 
it direct from your own office with the 
newspapers. In other words the news- 
papers allow the agencies a larger com- 
mission, on the average, than the agencies 
will charge you. For these reasons you 
should consider the advertising agencies 
as your best friends. Deal liberally with 
them, always keep your word good, pay 
your bills on time and you will find them 
a tower of strength to aid and assist you. 

To return to details. 

We suggested your getting in touch with 
an advertising solicitor from one of the 
leading agencies in your vicinity. Tell 
him what you want to do, ask his advice, 
show him this book, talk over the various 
plans and there is not the slightest doubt 



ONE HUNDEED SEVEITTY-STXNE 



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Chapter Twenty -Two 

but what he will make some suggestions 
to you that will be of service. 

One thing is certain. He will not have 
the slighest objection to calling upon the 
investor with you for that is one part 
of his business. 

Now, if you have previously been diligent 
in preparing yourself to make a reason- 
able impression on the solicitor and have 
secured the names of several investors for 
him to meet, it looks as though your 
chance here should be at least as good as 
one in five of obtaining a partner, capital, 
credit, or in some way making arrange- 
ments to start your business. 

"No man was ever so completely skilled in the 
conduct of life as not to receive new information 
from age and experience," — Terence. 




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Chapter Twenty -three 

"He that invents a machine augments the 
power of man and the well being of mankind." 

—H. W. Beecher. 



0NOTHER wonderful illustration of the 
curiosity of humans is the develop- 
ment of invention and discovery in me- 
chanical and other scientific lines. Curi- 
osity not only leads people to meddle in 
the affairs of their friends, to read and 
answer ads., to invest in fool schemes, but 
it also leads them to bend every energy, 
even to suffer actual privation so that 
some new thing may be made to ease the 
burden of their fellows. One of the great- 
est propelling motives of mankind, curi- 
osity serves humanity most when it is the 
expression of inventive genius. Long live 
the inventor. Though we receive pleasure 
each day from the results of his handi- 
work, not often do we stop to think of the 
hardship which every electric light, every 
piece of steel, every pane of glass, every 
telephone represents. The authors of 
this book have a peculiar feeling of kin- 
ship for every struggling inventor who is 
trying to market his brains. We realize 
fully their desperate need of aid in capital 



ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty-Three 

raising and therefore we take more than 
ordinary interest in this chapter hoping 
and trusting that many may be led into 
closer touch with the money world 
through its mediumship. A man must 
be intensely subjective to be an inventor. 
This means theoretical but not always 
practical. So we find many inventors 
who can only invent. That is, their prac- 
tical knowledge of business is limited. 
But knowledge can make a business man 
while it takes genius to be an inventor. 
So the inventors have the best of the argu- 
ment if they only knew it. They have 
two resources while the ordinary busi- 
ness man can never be anything else but 
one thing, a shopkeeper. Now, Mr. In- 
ventor, we have shown how you should 
have the advantage over these who have 
always laughed at you (as a class). You 
can invent and sell while they can only 
sell. In order to retain and increase that 
advantage, all you have to do is to become 
expert at money raising. This you can 
accomplish by the use of this book. The 
procedure is simple. First, preparation. 
Second, advertising for possible investors. 
Third, closing a deal. Looks easy and it 
is just as easy as it looks. But it takes 



ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-THREE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Three 

some study and a little time. In saying 
it is easy we mean comparatively speak- 
ing. If you work for fifteen dollars a 
week you probably would never save in 
your whole life three thousand dollars. 
If you earn twenty per it will take a long 
number of years. If you earn forty it 
will still take years. If you earn sixty 
you are pretty certain to have a family to 
help spend it, in which event you will 
need years to get three thousand dollars. 
By a careful study and practice of our 
method you should be able to raise three 
thousand dollars in a few weeks or 
months at the longest. Now three thou- 
sand dollars of some other man's money 
will go just as far as a similar amount of 
your own in business. So if you could 
secure that amount in a short time you 
would be better off. Why? Because you 
are just as sure of making money in busi- 
ness as you are of holding a job perma- 
nently. More certain, we think. Also 
you have this advantage, if your business 
once gets on a paying basis nothing but 
accident or foolishness can ever stop it. 

No one can force you down and out but 
your own sweet will. We think it a great 



ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-POUR 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Three 

joke when the millionaires come out in 
the papers and tell the" Common Peepul", 
to save money and support a family on 
twenty dollars a week. Surely we know 
it can be done. We have known of cases 
where they saved fifteen dollars out of the 
twenty. But that is not living. It is 
just barely existing. Right here we want 
to put ourselves on record as being utterly 
opposed to all such foolish talk. Extreme 
economy lowers the standard of living 
which all of us should try to raise. It also 
creates habits of pinching and parsimony 
which are a complete bar to position and 
progress. It distorts the mind and des- 
troys the soul which are reasons enough. 
But we have elsewhere advised economy. 
Yes, very true. But only temporarily 
and with a different idea in view. You 
see there are two kinds of economy. One 
for riches by saving alone which is unde- 
sirable. The other as a mere temporary 
effort to get established in a business 
which will permit saving without stingi- 
ness. The latter course is the one we 
believe every true American will sub- 
scribe to as the better, and for him the 
only one. Yet in asking our readers for 
a temporary economy we ask but little. 



ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-FIVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty-Three 

If you need good clothes to present your- 
self properly we suggest you get them. 
But if you need them for that purpose you 
need them anyway so that need not be 
charged against our method. Practically 
the only expense we ask you to pay is a few 
dollars for ads. and a few cents for carfare. 
The other items cost nothing but time 
and effort. So you see our method is dif- 
ferent from that of the publicity loving 
croakers who love to tell a man how much 
he should save out of nothing. We say 
get into business, use your brains and 
make enough so you can better your con- 
dition a little and save something without 
becoming a miser. We ask you to sub- 
mit these conclusions to your wife, family 
or friends, and we venture to say they will 
agree that our plan is far the better one. 
But we were sidetracked where we started 
to prove that capital raising is easier than 
saving money. Preparation, advertising 
for possible investors, closing a deal we 
said were the principal steps. The pre- 
paration consists in making pen notes 
upon the desirable points of your patent, 
it's cost to manufacture, probable selling 
price, method of selling, location of busi- 
ness, necessary fixtures and every other 



ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty-Three 

feature of the proposed venture which 
might be interesting to an investor. Also 
decide on a location, if possible, and get 
figures on raw material and fixtures. 
Then put in the ads. for names of inves- 
tors. Secure the replies, sort them over 
and go after the most likely one first on 
any of the special plans outlined in other 
parts of this book. Do not ask him at 
first to put money in the bank. Get the 
landlord to secure the rent from him or 
the drummer to secure an order for 
material or the fixture man an order for 
furniture. These are all good methods 
and are described at length elsewhere. 
Be sure if he won't pay one of the neces- 
sary bills of the new enterprise he will 
never turn over money for you to handle . 
Start him in very easy and he will do the 
rest without urging. A patent, if at all 
practical, is a good thing as a basis of 
money raising. So many countless mil- 
lions have been made out of patents that 
the public is more than willing to invest. 
Get your investor to buy, contract for or 
pay for something which the business 
must have, which he can see is necessary, 
and you will find the road much easier 
and swifter than in any other way. It 



ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-SEVEN 



Our Practical Method 

Chapter Twenty -Three 
looks more as though you mean business. 



"To business we love we rise betimes and go 
to it with delight," — Shakspeare, 




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ONE HUNDRED NINETY 



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Chapter Twenty -four 

"Sloth makes all things difficult; but industry 
makes all things easy." — Franklin. 






fHERE is much of enticing interest to 
some minds in the smoke of the 
chimneys, the hum of industry, the very 
atmosphere of a manufacturing plant. 
We do not blame any of our readers who 
are naturally predisposed toward a manu- 
facturing enterprise for we like that busi- 
ness ourselves. We see much to admire 
in the thought of producing from crude 
raw material such a finished article as 
will contribute to the happiness of man- 
kind. Others are apt to regard such a 
business with favor. Therefore we say 
it is comparatively an easy matter to 
raise money for the establishment of a 
manufacturing plant. But it is not quite 
so easy as for a store generally speaking. 
In the first place the results are not quite 
so quick and again the capital needed is 
apt to be, on the average, a little greater 
than that required for an ordinary store. 
But those conditions being equal there is 
not much difference in the work required 
to obtain the capital. There is a strong 
tendency among promoters of manufac- 



ONE HUNDEED NINETY-OWE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Four 

turing enterprises to want to incorporate. 
Indeed, this is the only practical way, 
when a large amount of capital is re- 
quired. But if ten thousand dollars or 
less be sufficient we say by all means get 
a partner. While a large corporation of, 
say, fifty or a hundred thousand is not 
objectionable, we do think a small cor- 
poration is one of the meanest, most 
unruly business propositions one can pos- 
sibly try to handle. The profit is not 
large enough to divide among several and 
the result is that there is a continuous 
scramble for the ascendancy in manage- 
ment and salary. But the relative ease 
and difficulty of raising capital will be 
discussed elsewhere as will also the forma- 
tion of corporations. So we need only 
discuss here the obtaining of the capital 
by the securing of a partner. The first 
thing to do is to prepare a prospectus 
showing about how much money will be 
required. In this the needed amount 
should be made as low as possible, consist- 
ent with good management. You should 
also remember that a manufacturing 
plant is entitled to a reasonable amount 
of credit at the bank, also time in pur- 
chasing material, machinery, tools, etc. 



ONE HUNDBED NINETY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Four 

The banks especially are usually quite 
liberal in their dealings with concerns 
engaged in such a permanent legitimate 
occupation. These credits should be con- 
sidered when making up your prospectus 
so as to get the actual amount of cash 
needed down just as low as possible. Why? 
Just because it is easier to get a partner 
with five thousand dollars than it is with 
ten thousand. 

Your chances of getting the lesser amount 
are far superior to those of your getting 
the greater amount. Not but what you 
could get a partner with ten thousand 
dollars. Certainly you could if you tried 
long enough and hard enough. But right 
there is the point. You might get tired, 
worn out, discouraged with repeated fail- 
ures and finally quit just short of the goal. 
That is just what we do not want you to 
do. We know a partner with double the 
money you need is a little harder to get 
than one with the right amount, and we 
do not hesitate to tell you so. The reason 
is simple. There are not nearly so many 
of the former class as of the latter. There- 
fore harder to find by any method. After 
you get the prospectus ready you should 



ONE HUNDRED NINETY-THREE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Four 

find a location (do this before if conven- 
ient) and also decide as to whether you are 
to build a plant or rent. Having decided 
as to location, plant, and arranged the 
prospectus then put in your ad. for an 
investor. Obtain the replies and follow 
them up according to the principles out- 
lined in other chapters of this book. If 
you are to rent a building or a portion of 
one get the landlord to assist you in secur- 
ing the investor's signature to the lease, 
or better yet, the payment of a month's 
rent. Failing in that or not wanting to 
try that method take up the plan of ob- 
taining the aid of the drummer who is to 
sell you the raw material or the traveling 
man who represents the house from whom 
you are to secure machinery and tools. 
Either one of these three should be able 
to close a deal with the investor, you 
being included as the one to handle the 
business. But you have the fixture man 
to fall back on besides the lawyer, friend, 
reporter, insurance man, politician and 
others previously mentioned as aids 
whom you can command to a reasonable 
degree. We always name the landlord 
first and the traveling salesman next, not 
because they are necessarily better or 



ONE HUNDRED NINETY-POUE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Four 

wiser than the others, but because they 
come first in the natural order of inquiry 
by the investor. The investor's first ques- 
tion is almost sure to be about your loca- 
tion, and the next about your stock of 
material, and the next about fixtures 
necessary. If, with the aid of these, or 
any of these, the investor cannot be in- 
duced to part with any money, how 
would you expect to obtain it from him? 
Either of these expenses, rent, material, 
fixtures, machinery, tools, are necessary 
absolutely to the starting and proper con- 
duct of a manufacturing establishment. 
The investor knows that perfectly, and 
the very moment you can get him to 
merely see and talk with any one of the 
people who* are interested in closing a 
deal on any of these necessities you have 
the hardest part of your battle won. The 
investor knows, subconsciously, perhaps, 
that he will take up their valuable time. 
While he might not hesitate to take up 
your time, because you are in the posi- 
tion of asking a favor of him, yet it will 
gradually dawn on him, that their time 
is money and that he really has no right 
to usurp very much of it unless he means 
business. On the other hand they will 



ONE HUNDRED NINETY-PIVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty-Four 

see that he does place himself in just such 
an awkward position as that and if he is 
too dumb to realize it they will gently 
hint to him that they supposed of course 
he meant business or they would not have 
spent so much time, etc., etc. 

They will, in a cautious way, make him 
feel slightly ashamed of himself and in 
order to preserve his self respect he is thus 
forced to agree to something very soon. 
If he does not you will have the extreme 
satisfaction of seeing him flounder 
around trying desperately to wriggle out 
of the hole. Again, you will know why, 
for he is sure to explain his position in 
detail as an excuse for taking up valuable 
time for nothing. Then you can judge 
almost to a certainty whether it is worth 
while to bother with him further or not. 
Do not pay much attention to the mere 
words he utters, but watch closely his 
actions while he is saying them. "Act- 
ions speak louder than words,' ' is very 
appropriate here, as well as nearly every 
where else. Words are the language of 
man alone but actions are the signs of 
nature, a universal language of the emo- 
tions, the feelings, the very soul, and as 
such may be interpreted by every one 



OlSE HUNDRED KXKE T"ST- SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Four 

whether educated or illiterate. If you 
doubt this, commence today, observe 
closely the actions of men, compare them 
with their spoken words and we will ven- 
ture to say that in one brief week you will 
realize to its fullest extent the truth 
of our statement. Is this a fault? No. 
Is the language wrong or the soul wrong? 
Neither. It is simply a condition existing 
and unavoidable. Can it ever be reme- 
died? No. Because no human can cor- 
rectly interpret nature or nature's God 
by the use of mere words. Language is 
stilted, unnatural, comparatively inex- 
pressive. Action is free, emotion deep, 
feeling is everywhere and above all the 
soul reigns so far supreme over the con- 
trivances of man that we might say its 
fathomless depths have only been slightly 
pierced and never sounded. But what 
has this to do with business? Everything. 
More dollars change hands every day as 
the result of personalities, friendships, 
feelings and emotions than in any other 
way. The whole business fabric is built 
upon the social fabric and vice versa. 
There is no line of separation and there 
can be none. We have discussed the psy- 
chological aspect of this question else- 



ORE EUMDRED HINETY-SE7SN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty-Four 

where and bring it up here again because 
the argument demands it. You will gain 
more by placing your investor in such a 
position that he cannot easily retire with- 
out damage to his feelings. He will make 
the necessary inquiries, if you will let 
him, then just a suggestion on your part 
to see these people and forthwith he is 
your partner before he knows it. 

Do not doubt. That is exactly the way 
it works out. 



"Our feelings were given to us to excite to 
ACTION." —Sandford. 




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Chapter Twenty-five 

"To know that which before us lies in daily 
life is the prime wisdom." — Milton. 



m 



uick sales and small profits is the 
slogan of many people engaged in 
merchandising. The expression seems 
very popular as one hears it often but we 
have never been able to see that it is par- 
ticularly apropos of any valuable idea. 
If it had been "quick sales and large pro- 
fits,' ' we believe it would have been more 
expressive of the true American idea of 
business. The average citizen of our 
country today does not object to paying 
a respectable profit, that is, if he himself 
is also making money. "Live and let 
live" is wise* and good as long as it surely 
works both ways. Wholesale business is 
what we had in mind when mentio- 
ning small profits. For our part we can 
readily see how the wholesale trade ap- 
peals to a great many investors. While 
the margin of profit is usually small 
yet the sales are large and the losses 
should be but little. We believe one main 
attraction of a wholesale enterprise to an 
investor is the fact that the dealings are 
expected to be with business men, for the 



TWO HUNDRED ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Five 

most part, thus eliminating the public 
almost entirely. We know the public is 
regarded by some to be ignorant and un- 
inviting. As far as we are concerned we 
prefer to deal with the public direct, be- 
lieving it gives us a broader view of life. 
But we cannot blame an investor whose 
views turn him toward a selected clien- 
tele. If you have decided to go into a 
wholesale business and are seeking capital 
for that purpose we take it for granted 
you have had experience in your chosen 
line for if not we think you will find it a 
hard row to hoe. Wholesale business is 
one of small profits, to be sure, but sad to 
relate the sales are not always large. It 
is without doubt one of the hardest enter- 
prises to start and run successfully that 
one can possibly find and we utter this 
word of warning to the inexperienced. 
If you are not sure of yourself — positively 
certain of your knowledge — don't do it. 
Try something else. It takes a long time 
to become established and expenses are 
heavy meanwhile. On the other hand, 
after once becoming well established such 
a business is bound to grow and is very 
sure, safe and permanent. We do not 
desire to unnecessarily alarm any one, 



TWO HUNDRED TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Five 

but we do feel one should be experienced, 
in order to be successful, in making a 
start in this line from nothing. If you 
are familiar with wholesale business and 
have decided to make an attempt the plan 
of procedure should be similar to those 
laid out for those trying to raise capital 
for retail stores. You will probably not 
need a whole lot of preparation, knowing 
your work, but we urge that you read that 
chapter carefully and in case you find 
therein any point upon which you need 
brushing up, be sure to see it is done. 
After deciding upon a location which you 
prefer and making up a prospectus then 
you are ready to place your advertise- 
ments in the papers for the names of pos- 
sible investors. Since you will probably 
need more capital than an ordinary retail 
store we suggest using plenty of space. 
Use fifty or a hundred lines so as to be 
sure and get several names of investors, 
any of whom may become partners. (If 
you want a stock company see instruc- 
tions for raising capital for corporations.) 
Such an ad. may have to be run several 
times, particularly so if the amount 
needed is quite large. Here again, we 
urge the advisability of asking for the 



TWO HUNDRED THREE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Five 

minimum amount of capital necessary 
and establishing a credit at the bank and 
with the manufacturers to supply the 
deficiency. You can get a partner with 
the maximum amount if you try long 
and hard but every five thousand dollars 
you add to what your partner must have 
makes it very much harder to find him. 
He then becomes a scarcer article and 
naturally more difficult to locate. But 
more on that subject will be found else- 
where. Having secured the names of 
interested investors your way should now 
be comparatively easy. Just obtain an 
interview — say only enough to assure the 
investor you know your business — and 
invite him to see your intended location. 
More likely than not he will make the 
inquiry saving you the trouble. Then 
the landlord gets his chance. No use to 
argue about it for these schemes are 
about the cleverest methods we know of 
for shifting the load of responsibility 
from your shoulders to those of some in- 
terested third party. It is, we believe, a 
hundred times easier for an investor to 
sign a lease than for him to say in so 
many words to you "Yes, I will back your 
proposition, here is the money." The 



TWO HTJNDItED POUR 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty-Five 

simple act of obligating himself for a 
small matter like rent is so natural, so 
ordinary, so business like that he com- 
mits himself to you, in that way, before 
he realizes it. The matter is then set- 
tled as far as he is concerned. He experi- 
ences a change of heart, doubt is replaced 
by confidence and from that time on you 
will find him depending on you to lead 
the way. So great is the advantage of 
suggestion over force. In raising capital 
the more you try to force a man the 
farther away he goes. The landlord may 
insist, as he is justified in doing, but you 
may do nothing but suggest and gently 
lead. If those tactics, and others of like 
nature fail, that investor is not for you. 
Perhaps, on investigation, you may decide 
the landlord is incapable of doing his 
part. In that case try the drummer, 
but be sure before passing the landlord. 
They may not look wise but they are usu- 
ally awake and in most cases will find a 
quick way of forcing a decision, which, if 
your selection of location is well timed 
and pleases the investor, is very cer- 
tain to be favorable to you. About the 
drummer. You expect, no doubt, to buy 
goods of several manufacturers. Then 



TWO HUNDRED FIVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Five 

get in touch with them, look over their 
salesmen and select the most capable one. 
Arrange for him to meet the investor and 
place your dependence on him to do his 
part. If he fails, your investor looks like 
a poor prospect. But if the drummer has 
forced him too hard or for any other rea- 
son you think another trial worth while, 
secure the next best salesman and try 
him on another tack. We do not advise 
over two trials on the traveling salesman 
plan. If these fail, as they should not, 
perhaps the fixture man would be a good 
one to try next. Fixtures are a necessity, 
they often have to be made and the inves- 
tor may often be induced to order them 
since payment is to be deferred for a time. 
There are many other plans outlined in 
this book. We favor the landlord, drum- 
mer and fixture man because they are 
obviously the ones who will try hardest 
in their own behalf, which means yours 
as well. They are the best aids. But 
there might be reasons why neither one 
of these could aid you. Therefore the 
other plans are inserted to fall back on 
when necessary. They are described at 
length elsewhere so we will not repeat 
them here. We suggest that if the inves- 



TWO HUNDRED SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty-Five 

tor will not pay the rent, if he will not buy 
the goods, if he will not order the fixtures, 
what good is he to you? Again — who 
better could you get to make him pay the 
rent than the landlord? Where is there 
a man living who is more capable of sell- 
ing him goods than the drummer? Who 
could get the order for fixtures more 
surely than the man whose business is 
fixtures? Raising capital is simply the 
art of selling the investor something — 
the very purchase of which carries with it 
an obligation to take you as a partner. 
It is, therefore — salesmanship — no more 
no less. We think the above few sen- 
tences prove that to be true — what do you 
think? 



"To a resolute mind, wishing to do is the first 
step toward doing." — South. 




TWO HTINDSED SEVEN 



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they may be easily applied to your o<wn proposition. 

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Chapter Twenty-Six 



a 



'A man who possesses wealth possesses 
power," — A, S. Roe, 



nN life's travels one meets many 
classes of people. Some people frank, 
openminded, others sullen, morose, glum, 
so chary of conversation one would think 
they were possessed of some weighty 
secret and were afraid to speak lest they 
might disclose it. There are just as many 
variations of inclination to be found in 
business men as in any other class. Some 
want factories, some want stores, some 
office-agencies and some want mines. So 
much gold has been taken out of the 
ground that men's minds have often wan- 
dered in their very dreams in search of 
this precious metal. Worse than that, 
they have been so completely bound up 
in the idea of sudden riches by the mining 
route that they have gone helplessly in- 
sane in the, too often, fruitless search. 
We seldom hear of people going crazy in 
the conduct of an ordinary business 
enterprise. There is something in min- 
ing — something in the very word itself 
which has a wonderful fascination for 
many people. To see a man start from 



TWO HUNDRED TEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Six 

nothing and reach an income, net, of a 
million a year is enough, we admit, to 
set a fairly sound mind agog. Then it 
need not be wondered at, since the oc- 
currence is a common one, that the more 
imaginative, emotional, (subjective) minds 
come to grief on this very account. So 
much money has been lost in mining 
ventures, however, that nowadays the 
proposition must be pretty fair and well 
supported in order to raise much capital. 
Were it not for the intense excitement 
aroused in setting forth the unlimited 
possibilities we doubt if mining invest- 
ments would be popular. But conditions 
exist which make a mine a valuable asset 
among a certain class. The main thing 
is to sort them out — to separate the imag- 
inative from the stolid — the excitable 
from the conservative investors. If you 
have a mining proposition in view we 
suggest you look it over carefully before 
wasting much time in actual effort. After 
a careful scrutiny, a thorough study of 
this book, a calm judgment on its advice, 
if you still feel convinced you are right 
then go right ahead and the chances are 
under those conditions you will find it 
just as easy to raise the money as on any 



TWO HUNDRED ELEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty Six 

other proposition requiring an equal 
amount of capital. If a corporation is 
desired read the portion of this book re- 
lating to corporations, as this chapter 
will deal only with securing a partner. 
We believe that to be much the better, 
quicker and safer way. That is the only 
way by which you can reasonably expect 
a half interest and we do not advise any 
one to accept less. It is an eas y matter to 
vote one minor stockholder out of a cor- 
poration and then force him to sell by 
withholding dividends, and the cleverest 
lawyers have never yet been able to pre- 
vent such action. "The majority owns 
and the majority rules." Certain sub- 
terfuges have been tried to prevent that 
but without success. It can only be ac- 
complished by getting the investor to 
agree to a one man rule and that is a very 
hard thing to do. But more of that 
later. We will discuss the securing of a 
partner. The first thing to do is to pre- 
pare or obtain a suitable prospectus. 
This is necessary in most cases because 
mines are usually located in secluded 
places some distance from the large cen- 
tres of money and it will be necessary to 
correspond with the investors with a view 



TWO HUNDRED TWELVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Six 

to getting them to see the claim or mine 
itself. The next thing is to place the 
advertisements for investors. These may 
be in the financial columns of the larger 
city daily or Sunday papers or if the large 
cities are quite distant then use the better 
class of magazines. Any responsible ad- 
vertising agency will give you reasonable 
information as to the better papers or 
magazines. The principle of handling 
the applications for information is just 
the same as if you were to secure a part- 
ner for a store or any other ordinary en- 
terprise. That is, they must be placed 
under some sort of obligation and you 
must ask them to pay for some needed 
article or some necessary expense. Now 
if the investor lives at a distance your 
whole effort should be to get him to visit 
the mine. That is by far the best way to 
start, for, if he does so, he places himself 
at once under three distinct and weighty 
obligations to become your partner. 
First, the paying of his railroad fare; 
second, the loss of his own time; third, 
the loss of your time (or that of your 
representative.) Either of these is a 
grand suggestion. For no man likes to 
waste his money, nor his time, nor the 



TWO HUNDRED THIRTEEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty-Six 

time of others when he is bent on busi- 
ness. He likes to make every day count 
and every dollar count and upon that 
principle your success rests. Now we will 
suppose you have the investor at the 
mine. If you are to buy or lease a claim 
the owner should be on the spot to close 
a deal with him for either rent or pur- 
chase money. In case you own the claim, 
or the owner cannot act his part, then 
you should act on the drummer plan 
described elsewhere. You will want ma- 
chinery, tools, supplies. Then get the 
representatives of the houses from whom 
you expect to purchase any of these 
articles. Have any or all of them in read- 
iness to meet the investor during his 
sojourn. Be sure they will find good 
reasons for urging him to close a deal 
without delay. They are in a better 
position to insist upon immediate action 
than you are and their arguments will 
prove much more effective. While both 
yourself and the investor may regard the 
deal as purely a matter of business, yet 
when you are seeking a partner there is 
always more or less of a personal favor 
to be granted by the investor. You can- 
not hurry a man when desiring a favor 



TWO HVNDOBED FOURTEEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Six 

from him. But the drummer is all 
business — no favors from him or to him. 
That is why the investor will feel just a 
little awkward in taking up his time 
without making some kind of a deal. 
The drummer will make him feel just 
that way, at any rate, which is just 
as well as though he realized the obli- 
gation without further suggestion. Do 
not try to get the investor started on a 
large scale at first. If you can get him to 
obligate himself for a hundred, two hun- 
dred or five hundred dollars worth of ne- 
cessities, rest assured he will go on from 
there as far as he can go, in a financial 
way, and that is all you can expect of any 
one. Now suppose you are in a distant 
part of the country from the mine in 
which you are interested. Then you 
have two methods open — either sell stock 
broadcast (see corporation chapter), or 
elaborate these principles, apply them 
to your own proposition and put some 
one on the spot to see your wishes are 
carried out. We advise being at the 
mine yourself if possible, because that 
is the quicker and more effective way. 
But we can easily see how such circum- 
stances might arise as would make it im- 



TWO HUNDRED FIFTEEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Six 

possible for you to leave your present 
duties and in view of that we make the 
preceding suggestion. We do not ad- 
vocate, however, the leaving of one's busi- 
ness matters, and especially capital rais- 
ing, to other people. It usually turns 
out badly. But if you, yourself, are in 
a position to direct matters personally 
and advise with the owner, the salesman 
or any other third party as to how to play 
their part, there is no reason why you 
should have any more difficulty in secur- 
ing a partner than you would in any other 
line of business. If you place such an 
advertisement as will draw replies from 
people who know the proposition is a 
mining one, your path will be much 
easier. But if you place an advertisement 
which merely calls for an investor of 
money, no details given, we believe you 
will find it much harder. If the propo- 
sition is an extra good one the latter class 
will do, but if it is just ordinary you 
should get the names of investors who 
know from the advertisement what your 
business is. A much larger number of 
these will be amendable to your argu- 
ments, being previously disposed toward 
a mining proposition. Be sure of this — 



TWO HUNDRED SIXTEEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty-Six 

that your advertisement is large enough 
to attract several replies. This will in- 
crease your chances and avoid the possi- 
bility of unnecessary discouragement. 



"Wealth may be an excellent thing for it 
means power, leisure and liberty/' — J. R. Lowell. 




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Chapter Twenty -Seven 

"God gives to every man the virtue, temper, 
understanding, taste that lifts him into life, 
and lets him fall in just the niche he was or- 
dained to fill." — De Tocqueville. 



fflANY people have a predisposition 
L&AJ1 toward land enterprises. Real 

estate has a welcome ring in so many dif- 
ferent languages that it is not surprising 
that such a large variety of people try it as 
a bread winning business. And the fact 
that a very liberal percentage of them suc- 
ceed is proof positive that it is a worthy 
occupation. If you have shown evidence 
of a taste for real estate as a business we 
want to say we consider it a wise choice 
because it is lasting when once established 
and very easy to raise money for the 
start. Three ways generally speaking, 
for you to conduct a real estate business. 
We will mention each, then describe the 
best method of raising the capital. First- 
an ordinary real estate office, handling 
properties of any kind strictly on commis- 
sion. Second — the new profit sharing 
and bond plan for promoting large rent 
paying propositions — as office buildings 
etc. Third — promoting subdivisions or 



TWO HUNDRED TWENTY 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Seven 

suburban properties. The common plan 
of handling properties for customers 
solely on commission is mentioned first 
because it is the easiest to start and really 
furnishes a valuable stepping stone in the 
way of experience, to the other two 
larger and more profitable methods. You 
will need an office, furniture and fixtures, 
a safe, bookkeeping devices, printed mat- 
ter and advertising. So the way is plain. 
Insert your advertisement for investors, 
secure the replies, pick out the best one 
and take him to see the intended land- 
lord. If that does not work, take him to 
see the furniture man or the fixture man. 
It is not wise to talk too much about the 
advertising expenses until after he pays 
the rent and the office has been opened. 
Then the question of advertising to get 
properties to be sold and advertising to 
sell them, as the easiest and best method, 
can be thoroughly discussed. Investors 
as a rule know little about advertising, 
and that question is one which should, 
for the sake of prudence, be left out until 
you are ready to face the actual problem 
of securing the business. It is much 
safer and quicker to merely ask the inves- 
tor to pay the rent or buy the furniture 



TWO HUM»EED TWENTY-ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty Seven 

and fixtures or purchase something tan- 
gible for the office which his eye can see 
and which he knows positively is neces- 
sary to the starting of the business. It 
is even better to pay the rent yourself for 
one month if you can as that leaves the 
investor open to put his money into 
something he can see and touch. Re- 
member Franklin's words "The eye of 
the master will do more work than both 
his hands." This principle works out 
well in money raising, either in selling 
stock for a corporation or in securing a 
partner. The most successful stock sales- 
men always insist that the investors' 
money is to be used for the purchase of 
some certain thing which he can easily 
see is necessary for the good of the con- 
cern. If your possible investor will not 
pay the rent nor buy the furniture nor 
order the fixtures, be very sure he is no 
good for you. This is a quick and effect- 
ive method of finding out if he is in 
earnest, and most perfect for closing a 
deal. The second and third real estate 
methods are a little more difficult owing 
to the larger capital required. You 

should have practical experience before 
trying either. But here is the plan. You 



TWO HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO 



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Chapter Twenty -Seven 

have your eye on a lot suitable for the 
erection of a business block or other rent- 
producing building. Or you want to 
make a subdivision of certain property 
and build dwellings upon the lots. In 
either case if the proposition is a small 
one the simpler and quicker way is to 
secure a partner to furnish the money 
while you look after details for a share in 
profits. This can be easily done by adver- 
tising for a partner as there are immense 
numbers of people who heartily endorse 
and believe in improved real estate for 
investment. But if the proposition is too 
large for one partner get several in the fol- 
lowing way. Sell bonds against the proper- 
ty covering its full value. Payoff the mort- 
gage if any and deposit the deed and 
balance of the money with a bank or 
trust company to cover the improvements 
and either sell bonds to cover the balance 
of the whole amount, or give a mortgage 
as may be deemed best. If the property 
is free when the improvements are com- 
pleted a first mortgage can be made guar- 
anteeing the entire bond issue. That is 
best as the bonds will sell easier with such 
an understanding. But if the bond- 
holders can agree, it is just as well to issue 



TWO HUNDRED TWENTY-THREE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty 'Seven 

a first mortgage to the bank for their 
loan and a second mortgage to the bond- 
holders to guarantee their bonds. Finally 
your attorney can prepare for you a legal 
agreement so that you can share with the 
bondholders in the profits. Such bonds 
as these are easy to sell because the peo- 
ple are coming more and more to regard 
real estate as a desirable means of invest- 
ment, both for safety and for reasonable 
profit. 



"Genius begins great works; labor alone 
finishes them," — Joubert. 




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Chapter Twenty-Eight 

"When clouds are seen wise men put on their 
cloaks.' 9 



PHOT that this is to be a rainy chapter. 
UUl But just a hint to those who have 
exalted ideas of the ease of money-raising. 
There is a limit to the ease by which any 
action may be performed. For instance 
philosophers lay down the rule that the 
resistance of the air to a moving body 
increases as the square of the speed. 
Thus an automobile moving eight miles 
an hour has to overcome four times the 
resistance that impedes the progress of 
the same machine moving four miles an 
hour. A runner to travel sixteen miles 
an hour has just four times the air pres- 
sure to overcome that would be the case 
were he moving at half the speed. Now 
that does not seem right but it is. And 
a similar principle operates in raising 
large amounts of capital. Given two 
propositions of equal attractiveness to 
investors one needing three thousand 
dollars, the other six thousand dollars, 
and you will find it is about nine times 
as hard to secure the larger amount. 
Because the investors feel they are taking 



TWO HUNDRED TWENTY-SIX 



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Chapter Twenty-Eight 

a chance, always, when putting money 
into a business enterprise. There is no 
certainty of profits. Therefore it is easy 
to see that a man would much more will- 
ingly take a chance of losing three thous- 
and than six. Again there are about 
nine times as many men who have three 
thousand as there are who have six thous- 
and. In organizing a small corporation an- 
other difficult objection occurs but it has 
the same effect. This objection crops out 
when you hear each investor say he is 
willing to join but does not want to invest 
until all the stock is sold. Now if only 
occasionally one held that view it would 
not make so much difference but when 
they all feel that way it makes the pro- 
gress very hard. While they are only be- 
ing asked to invest the comparatively 
small sum of five hundred or a thousand 
each yet they hang back just the same and 
we believe the very hardest part of stock 
selling for corporation organizing is the 
getting in of the first thousand dollars. 
That much real money in sight gives more 
confidence than can be produced in any 
other way. Again you will find it harder 
to convince twenty men than five. It is 
just as hard to sell one as another, on the 



TWO HUNDRED TWENTY-SEVEN 



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Chapter Twenty -Eight 

average, and the added red tape which 
necessarily follows increased capitaliza- 
tion, makes every problem many times 
harder than one would suppose would be 
the case. To illustrate — you would really 
need an office where you could all meet 
and talk things over if you were trying to 
raise fifteen to twenty-five thousand dol- 
lars by means of a stock company. But 
if you only wanted a partner with one to 
three thousand you could easily do with- 
out that office expense and employ the 
time wasted in that way to better advan- 
tage. Now to get down to figures. If 
you have less than a thousand dollars of 
your own we advise you to take up a small, 
or at least ordinary, proposition and secure 
a partner. If you have two thousand or 
more it might be well to risk organizing a 
corporation. In either case do not invest 
your own money except what is necessary 
for securing the names of investors and 
the other small expenses incident to get- 
ting the capital through others and from 
others. You should get a half interest 
as a partner with or without your own 
investment. You should get all the 
stock, for promoting a corporation, with- 
out investment of your own, that you 



TWO HUETDKED TWENTY-EIGHT 



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Chapter Twenty -Eight 

could possibly obtain by using the few 
hundred which you might have laid away. 
Again — if the business proposition does 
not prove profitable you have that much 
extra money anyway. These are four 
very substantial reasons why you should 
not invest your own money. Yet day 
after day men will put their last dollar 
into some business where they could have 
done just as well by using other people's 
money and in many cases better. Seems 
to us as though they were proud to let 
people know they had a few dollars. To 
be sure it is a feeling which is natural 
enough. But if you want to lose money 
let people know you have it. They will 
find a way to help you get rid of it, never 
fear. We have strongly advised you to 
seek just as little capital as you find abso- 
lutely necessary since the smaller amount 
is easier to obtain and since your per- 
centage of profit will be larger in a small 
company than in a large one. In other 
words we would wish you could so arrange 
matters that you could have at least a 
half interest. This you can do by inter- 
esting moderate capital. Small inves- 
tors are more liberal than large ones. 
We would not even consider for one mo- 



TWO ETUOTDBED TWENTY-NHIE 



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Chapter Twenty -Eight 

ment, no matter what the inducements, 
any business for ourselves which con- 
templated less than a half interest. That 
is the price of a contented mind than 
which no earthly possession is greater. 
If you do not know of any other business 
than the one upon which you have set 
your heart, and if that seems too large 
an undertaking then put a fifty cent ad. 
in the paper a few times asking for a pro- 
position which a little money would put 
through. You will get them in plenty 
and good ones too. You see we do not 
uproot one idea without putting a better 
one in its place. 

"More firm and sure the hand of courage 
strikes when it obeys the watchful eye of CAU- 
TION." —Thompson. 




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Chapter Twenty -Nine 

"Have a purpose in life, and having it, throw 
into your work such strength of mind and mus- 
cle as God has given you." — Carlyle, 



BESPITE our advice on securing a part- 
ner and organizing small corpora- 
tions the grand purpose of this book is to 
provide a way by which you may finally 
become engaged in business for yourself 
alone, which is the real end and aim of 
most business people. Methods and 

opinions differ. This is a wise provision 
of a wiser Nature and lends variety to life. 
Yet there is a longing in most breasts for 
the privilege of operating a business enter- 
prise on the strength of command of one 
owner and only one. Now we believe that 
in many cases men are better off and 
make more money with one or more part- 
ners than without. But we also believe 
that if a man does desire to handle a busi- 
ness on his own responsibility, he should 
be possessed of the knowledge which will 
provide him with the desired opportunity. 
Therefore we offer a few suggestions and 
more particularly because we know some 
of our readers will already be engaged in 
partnerships or corporations and will 



TWO HUNDRED THIRTY-TWO 



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Chapter Twenty -Nine 

welcome ideas on the subject of getting 
away from alliances and being in business 
by themselves. If you are among those 
who want some day to have complete 
charge of a business of your own we sug- 
gest that there are two methods, either 
to buy out your partner and continue the 
same business or sell your interest and 
start again in the same or some other 
line. Now as to buying out the other 
interest. If your personal finances are 
in good condition and the business is on a 
good paying basis your bankers will often 
advance enough money to make the pur- 
chase. But if the banks cannot be de- 
pended upon then a private loan from an 
individual can frequently be arranged. 
This latter may be best accomplished by 
advertising — using, of course, a blind ad- 
vertisement. The loan may be made 
secure in many ways. Your attorney 
will provide a method, which will not 
hamper your free conduct of your busi- 
ness but which will provide the creditor 
with reasonable security. You will find 
a loan of this kind not difficult to make, 
provided you are willing to offer fair 
security and perhaps a small bonus. The 
advantage of advertising for the money 



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Chapter Twenty -Nine 

lies in the fact that by securing several 
replies to such an advertisement you are 
placed in a position to choose, from 
among several, the one who will agree to 
the terms that are most advantageous to 
you. This is an important item, for some 
people want ten times the remuneration 
for a loan that is asked by others. If you 
want to sell your own interest, on the 
other hand, place a blind advertisement 
to that effect. This is a wise precaution 
whether you expect your partner to buy 
your share or not. If he knows you are 
offering your interest to others it will 
materially increase his offer to you. But 
if you are depending wholly on a sale to 
outside parties then it is doubly advan- 
tageous for you to have a number of pos- 
sible purchasers from which to choose 
and about the only way for you to accu- 
mulate several such is to advertise for 
them. That is to say, the only reason- 
ably certain way. If you depend on meet- 
ing, by chance, a purchaser, it may be a 
long time before your opportunity will 
come, and, even after a long period of 
waiting it may not result in a deal. Our 
advise is, then, no matter whether you 
want to buy out your partner or sell your 



TWO ETHTOKED THIRTY-POUR 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Twenty -Nine 

own interest, resort to the newspapers 
with a blind advertisement. You will 
be more certain of the money in either 
case and you will not have to place your- 
self under any obligation to your friend 
for either the loan or the sale as the case 
may be. It will be a purely business deal, 
most likely among strangers, and as such 
will prove more satisfactory than in any 
other way. Decide first as to the plan of 
action then follow it out without waiting. 
No good can be gained by delay, for, if you 
have a settled conviction that you would 
do better in business by yourself the 
sooner you accomplish that result the 
better you will be satisfied and, we be- 
lieve, the more likely to become pros- 
perous. 



"Defer no time; delays have dangerous endsJ 

— Shakspeare. 




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Chapter Thirty 

"As land is improved by sowing it with various 
seeds, so is mind by exercising it with various 
studies." — Pliny. 



DHERE is an odd belief which is fondly 
fostered among a certain few who 
hold to the idea that there is "nothing 
new under the sun." Which is to say 
that nothing now exists in ideas or ma- 
terial form which did not exist at some 
more or less remote period of the past. 
We shall not dispute the belief but simply 
refuse to subscribe to it. There are so 
many things entirely new to us that it 
seems impossible to our limited minds 
they could ever have been thought of or 
discovered before. In preparing this book 
the thought came to us that many would 
like the benefit of its teachings but their 
plans might be so foreign to and different 
from the ordinary enterprise to which we 
have applied its principles that they 
might be deterred from acting on its ad- 
vice on that account. If you belong to 
that class we have to say that we cannot 
now see how any ordinary business could 
be so far divergent from the usual prac- 
tices as not to be plainly dealt with here- 



TWO HTJNDRED THIRTY-SEVEN" 



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Chapter Thirty 

in. But since there may be "something 
new under the sun" we shall say a few 
words in a general way. The main idea 
in raising capital is to offer the investor 
something his eye can see, as, a stock of 
goods, furniture, fixtures, stock of print- 
ed matter, office supplies or anything in 
that line which he can see and know is of 
value. 

The next idea is to get the man who knows 
how, to sell him any of these things. 
Every man to his trade, we believe, and if 
you don't happen to be a salesman the 
next best thing is to get someone who is a 
salesman to load the investor up with 
something that he cannot very well use 
without your assistance. In that way 
you have a partner as soon as the pur- 
chase is agreed upon. But some enter- 
prises do not require a stock of goods and 
it may not be handy to buy fixtures at 
once, so then, in that case, the best thing 
to do would be to get your investor to pay 
the rent. 

While his eyes cannot see and his hands 
cannot handle the rent, as he could a 
stock of goods or some furniture, yet it is 
a necessary expense and being necessary 



TWO HUNDRED THIETY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty 

is almost as good an idea to start out with. 
Indeed there are some reasons why it is 
better, the main one being because it 
usually comes first on the list. Another 
being that most people like to get settled 
in a new office as soon as possible so as to 
have a place of business where they can 
meet and talk over their affairs. The 
usual tendency on the part of the inex- 
perienced to ask a man for money to be 
put in the bank is a sad mistake and one 
to be deplored. Most people want the 
investor to do that first when as a matter 
of fact that is the last thing to be done. 
The investor will usually take care of that 
himself if given time as he will know 
without being told that a bank account 
is usually necessary to the conduct of a 
business. The chances, are, however, 
that he will want to pay the larger bills 
himself for awhile and we see no objec- 
tion to that, provided, of course, that the 
promoter means business and is not try- 
ing any ' 'queer' 9 game to fleece the inves- 
tor out of his money. Such tricks we de- 
plore, and aside from those practices be- 
ing criminal, they are not often produc- 
tive of as much profit in a year as any 
decent legitimate enterprise would pro- 



TWO HUNDRED THIRTY-NINE 



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Chapter Thirty 

duce. But to return to our subject. 
There must be something tangible pre- 
sented to the investor for his considera- 
tion when asking for his money. It 
must be something he knows the business 
will need. Some necessary expense and a 
small item is usually better than a large 
one, as it is nearly always easier to get 
him to make a small payment for some- 
thing on the start. Just as it is easier to 
borrow five of a friend than fifty. The 
principle is just the same. Investors lack 
confidence at first and there is no one 
thing which adds so much to their confi- 
dence on the start as to have the first re- 
quest for money be a suggestion of a 
payment for some necessary or for some 
needed unavoidable expense. Even in 
selling stock certificates for corporations 
the same principle is almost universally 
recognized. The smart stock salesman 
never asks for all the money at once. It 
is usually a case of ten percent down, 
balance in installments. Better yet, if 
the salesman can just get the signature of 
a half-way responsible man he is pleased 
to take a chance of nothing at all down 
and the payments to start later. Yet in 
either case you will find the salesman al- 



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Chapter Thirty 

ways has some special purpose to which 
the money is to be applied and that pur- 
pose must be reasonable and necessary — 
else he is not likely to be successful in 
following the selling of stock certificates 
for a livelihood. What the eye can see, 
what the hands can touch, in short, those 
things which the senses can realize, are 
the things which are interesting to the 
investor and which are likely to be quick- 
est in securing an investment from him. 

"Strong reasons make strong actions." 

— Shakspeare. 




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Chapter Thirty -One 
"Ability is a poor man's wealth." — M. Wren. 



fft|E realize that the majority of our 
iiJl readers will have selected and firmly 



decided upon some particular business 
which they will insist upon following as 
being best for them. But many will be 
undecided, and, if you belong to the lat- 
ter class we have something to say to you 
which probably will not have occurred to 
you before. In advertising, soliciting or 
circularizing for probable investors you 
would think those who reply or become 
interested to any extent would at once 
accept your proposition. They would, 
in most cases, for it is certain that at least 
ninety percent of such people are in ear- 
nest and really want to put their money 
to some profitable use in a business way. 
But frequently you will see there is some- 
thing holding them back which at first 
seems inexplainable. After you have be- 
come a little better acquainted you will 
find that each of these has some pet pro- 
position of his own, some business that 
he particularly favors, some scheme which 
he thinks good but which, for some rea- 
son, which he will no doubt explain, he 



TWO HUNDRED PORTY-TEBEE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-One 

has so far neglected to try out. Here, 
then, is an additional opportunity which 
conies to you uninvited, but the like of 
which conies to all men who bestir them- 
selves. "To him who hath it shall be 
given' ' is exemplified in this very occur- 
rence. It is this peculiar circumstance 
which explains why many men get along 
fast without apparent reason. They are 
hunting for money where money is to be 
found and contrariwise the money is 
often accidentally hunting for them. 
Just like hunting deer. If you go where 
they usually haunt, and "stick around" 
for awhile they will find you by chance 
while you are trying to locate them by 
skill. So far — so good. You have inter- 
viewed your man and have found out that 
he has a proposition which looks good to 
him. He also has some money which 
you are reasonably certain he would pre- 
fer to put into his own proposition than 
into yours. Then it is up to you to find 
out all you can about what he wants to do, 
make a future appointment and retire 
to think it over. Far be it from us to ad- 
vise you to change your original plans if 
you are firmly decided on what proposi- 
tion you wish to undertake, but if you 



TWO EUIIDKBD FOKTY-POUB 



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Chapter Thirty -One 

are undecided, then one opinion is as 
good as another and, until it is tried, one 
business is as good as another for you. 
So think it over. Make notes, if time 
permit, and examine his plans as care- 
fully as possible. Then decide whether 
acceptable to you or not. If so, go to him 
and say so, if not leave it alone entirely. 
Such an opportunity as this will come to 
you unsolicited about once in every four 
new investors which you interview. Of 
course, they will all have more or less 
ideas on business and will advance them 
to you. But what we mean is that, on an 
average of about every fourth one, you will 
find a man with a plan, willing to back it 
with money, and one which is of sufficient 
value to be worthy of consideration. 



"Men are often capable of greater things than 
they perform. They are sent into this world 
with bills of credit and seldom draw to their 
full extent." —Walpole. 



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TWO EUNSBEO FOBTY-SIX 



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Chapter Thirty -Two 

"We are often able because we think we are 
able." — J. Hawes. 



E 



|F you are undecided as to what busi- 
ness to follow it is often well to 
put an ad. in the papers in a slightly dif- 
ferent way. Instead of advertising for an 
investor with money only, instead of say- 
ing in the ad. that you have a plan of your 
own, say you have brains, intelligence, and 
are capable of establishing a business and 
starting it from the ground up. That 
you have business judgment, some exper- 
ience and that you would like to get in 
touch with any man who has a proposi- 
tion and some means, but who is too busy 
to look after it himself. Such an ad. will 
bring less replies but they will be ready 
to do business and there will be no fuss 
or feathers about it at all. Only it will 
be necessary for you to prepare yourself 
thoroughly so as to convince him his busi- 
ness will be well looked after. Not that 
a long course of study is necessary al- 
though it is true that the more you know 
the better in a case like this. But it is 
wise to be well "brushed up" on business 
subjects. Here is the way to proceed. 



TWO HUNDRED FORTY-SEVEN" 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty -Two 

You place your ad. in the papers and get 
the replies. Then you will notice some 
will state the nature of their enterprise, 
others will not. If you can pick out one 
about which plan you are somewhat fami- 
liar, so much the better, but if not, then 
go and see what they want you to do. If 
the best plan, considering everything, 
seems a little strange to you, excuse your- 
self at once on the plea of a lack of time, 
make an appointment, and go home to 
study up on the subjects about which you 
know the investor's plan will call for 
knowledge. 

Then go to him with your chance of suc- 
cess practically assured. You should re- 
member in connection herewith, that 
nearly every business man with idle 
money has some pet scheme or business 
which he thinks better than his own. 
Strange, a man would want to divide his 
interests. But true, nevertheless. After 
a business man has done the same things 
day in and day out, week in and week out 
for a period of years we do not think it is 
to be wondered at that he feels himself 
gradually slipping away. That is, he feels 
the need of new ideas, new men around 



TWO KOTTDBED FORTY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Two 

him, new enterprises, push, stamina, 
ginger, call it what you like, he needs 
mental change and stimulus. In many 
cases such a state of affairs is purely un- 
conscious, (subjective) as it were. But in 
all cases it is an expression of the natural 
trend of ambition. A groping of Mother 
Nature. A stirring, an unrest, a nervous 
excitement resulting from similarity of 
environment. Ennui. That is the word 
which seems to fill the bill. But no mat- 
ter. We know such a tendency exists 
and its cause is a minor consideration. 
Suffice it to say, among the hundreds of 
business men with whom we have had 
actual personal contact, acquaintance or 
friendship, we have never known a soli- 
tary one who took up one single line of 
business and followed it without diver- 
gence to the end. They all dabble. They 
fool with this scheme, they fuss with that 
and they fume over the other. But be 
assured they win or lose, at some time or 
other, at other men's games of business. 
We do not even offer an opinion as to the 
right or wrong of this practice. Often 
for the best, sometimes not for the best, 
it happens to be a settled custom of busi- 
ness men to invest a portion of surplus in 



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Chapter Thirty -Two 

the brains of their fellows. That being 
true it would seem that your path should 
be reasonably easy. You should feel you 
are capable of handling business at a pro- 
fit as well as any otherordinaryindividual, 
perhaps much better — who knows? Feel- 
ing thus you should not hesitate to follow 
the hints in this book, take advantage of 
the fact that many have money, that they 
want to make money, that they do read 
ads., and if you do not come along to help 
them some one else will. Plain talk, in- 
deed, but it is true and you know it. But 
will you act on it? That we cannot say. 
You can. flf | ,:■,;; 

"All may do what has by man been done," 

— Young. 




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Chapter Thirty-Three 

"Our incomes are like our shoes; if too small, 
they gall and pinch us." — Colton, 



IfflANY a man has found himself in 
ItMJl business with a capital just a little 
too small to produce a sufficient income. 
Then the shoe pinches. May be his busi- 
ness was in a poor location. Perhaps it 
was general in its nature and the location 
did not matter. Heavy interest at the 
bank, long time and high buying prices, 
slow business and light margin of profit 
are all important factors in deciding one 
to look about for additional capital. We 
have a few suggestions to make before 
discussing the subject itself. Right on 
the start we advise any man who is con- 
templating a partner or stock company, 
to increase his capital, to look his propo- 
sition over carefully first with a view to 
deciding if his impulse is correct. The 
case sums itself up like this. If you are 
making good money more capital might 
be a detriment rather than a help. If 
you are losing money more capital will be 
difficult, though not at all impossible, to 
obtain. At a quick glance it would seem 
to be plain that you should either stay in 



TWO HUNDRED PITTY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Three 

business as you are or else sell out and 
try something different. Yet we do not 
advise a hasty decision. But we do 
strongly advise a careful consideration of 
every detail before wasting both time and 
money in what is sometimes a fruitless 
search. The investors are bound to think 
your business is in a bad way if you are 
asking for new capital. This thought is 
hard to overcome. Therefore we suggest 
the following idea. Did it ever occur to 
you that you could sell out your present 
business, put the money in your pocket 
and then go and get a partner who would 
furnish all the money on a half interest 
basis? You may not have thought of 
it in that light but the fact is that it 
would be much easier for you to get a 
partner, one who would furnish the entire 
capital, than for you to get some one to 
invest extra money in your present busi- 
ness. Suppose you had a business you 
thought worth eight thousand, you could 
sell if for six, but you needed, say, ten 
thousand to start again in a new location, 
on a larger scale. We believe it would be 
the best thing for you, by all odds, to sell 
and get the six thousand. Put fifty-nine 
hundred of it in the bank and use from 



TWO UU .NUKED FIPTY-THBEE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Three 

five dollars to fifty dollars out of the re- 
maining hundred in securing a partner 
with the whole amount of cash and credit. 
Now, you may think a partner with that 
much money is hard to find. They were, 
years ago, but today ten thousand is only 
an average amount for a man to invest in 
business. We say this to you because 
you are experienced in business. You 
know what to do and how to approach an 
investor. You have positive knowledge 
upon which to base your claim to recog- 
nition. A partner with ten thousand is 
easier for you to obtain than a partner 
with two thousand would be for an inex- 
perienced seeker. Therefore when we 
advise caution, as to amount, in other 
chapters you should remember we were 
considering the reader who had no knowl- 
edge — nothing positive — only hope and 
ambition upon which to base his expecta- 
tions. But you are capable, you know by 
actual personal test — you are absolutely 
sure you could handle an ordinary busi- 
ness, possibly similar to the one you now 
have, to a profit. Under those conditions 
you are very certain of obtaining a part- 
ner with any reasonable sum. The plans 
outlined in other chapters of this book 



TWO HTJ3STDREB FIFTY-DOUR 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty -Three 

will help you do the work and with very 
little effort on your part. 

But just suppose you still want extra capi- 
tal to be invested with you in^your present 
business. Then follow the plans else- 
where in this book for securing names of 
possible investors also as regarding pre- 
paration for an interview. There are two 
short cuts to success in getting an inves- 
tor to put in additional capital. One is 
to sell him direct a share in your business. 
This can be accomplished best by placing 
him under obligation to you. A nice din- 
ner is the best and cheapest way. He will 
feel more kindly disposed toward you at 
that time than at any other, and if you 
cannot deal with him after he has ac- 
cepted your hospitality — there is not 
much use in wasting further time with 
him. But there is a better way. He will 
invest money more quickly if you give 
him a chance to pay for something tan- 
gible with all or part of that money. You 
will want goods, material or fixtures. 
Then get one of the drummers of 
whom you expect to buy these necessities. 
Tell the drummer as little as you think 
best and let him do the actual closing of 



TWO HUISTDEED FEFTY-FXVE 



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Chapter Thirty -Three 

the deal. He will make the deal if it is 
possible for him to do so — which means a 
closing of the deal for you as well. This 
method is the best and is equally as good 
in the case of a corporation as of a part- 
nership. To conclude this chapter we 
again suggest if you cannot continue by 
yourself, sell, get a partner, and let him 
do the worrying. This will work out best 
in ninety-nine cases in a hundred. The 
other ways herein mentioned are for the 
exceptional, the one hundredth case. 



"When a man's desires are boundless his 
labors are endless. They will set him a task he 
can never go through, and cut him out work he 
can never finish." — Balguy. 



y^ 



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Chapter Thirty-Four 

"Few things are impracticable in themselves: 
and it is for want of application rather than of 
means that men fail of success." 

— Rochefoucauld, 



DN commencing operations on plans 
for raising capital four unexpected 
situations are liable to develop as the re- 
sult. First — Your employer may think 
better of your services and raise your 
salary. Second — Your employer may 

want you to become interested in his 
business. Third — He may want you to 
operate a branch for him. Fourth — It is 
barely possible he may not need your ser- 
vices at all. These four contingencies 
are encountered every day in the business 
world and, if you are employed now or ex- 
pect to be soon, you should consider the 
possibility of either occurrence and be pre- 
pared for it. You never know what stand 
an employer will then take when con- 
fronted by the loss of a valuable helper. 
He is most likely to make overtures to 
keep a worthy employe since it is almost 
an axiom that an employe who was not 
considered valuable would not be kept at 
all. These situations are liable to develop 



TWO HUNDRED FIFTY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Four 

in your case, if you attempt to better your 
condition, and it therefore behooves you 
to have a care as to how you meet them. 
People do not always value one so highly 
until he is about to depart. Then they 
raise Heaven and Earth to keep him. We 
suggest therefore that you consider the 
possibilities carefully, decide whether the 
impression made by your announcement 
will be well received and if you have reason 
to fear a loss of position do not let your 
purpose be known. To the contrary if 
you feel that your services are appreciated 
and that you might score an advantage, 
do not hesitate to see to it that your em- 
ployer is made aware of your intentions. 
Some surprising results are likely to fol- 
low. Your salary may be raised. You 
may be offered an interest, either where 
you are, or to operate a branch for the 
firm. At any rate you will know where 
you stand and as to whether your position 
is strong or weak. There is much satis- 
faction in that. To be in doubt of one's 
prospects is, as we believe, one of the 
greatest of misfortunes. It is true that 
you might be in doubt, if you were in 
business by yourself, but it would be an 
honest doubt. You would know that you 



TWO HUNDRED nFTT-NDTB 



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Chapter Thirty-Four 

might have to step out, but no one could 
kick you out. Such is the confidence 
inspired when one looks forward to the 
results, good or bad, of his own efforts. 
In case your employer decides to improve 
your prospects we have no word of advice 
to give. Under those conditions you have 
only|to exercise your best judgment and 
act|upon it. That is the one invariable 
rulefof life which, we believe, brings a 
manfnearest the limit of his capacity. 
While we have no advice to offer yet we do 
suggest that any arrangement you make 
with your employer should be one which 
is productive of immediate as well as future 
benefit. Do not accept promises alto- 
gether, f Like laws, they are often made 
but" often broken. You might better be 
in ; business for yourself, depending on 
your|Townfpromises than upon the unse- 
cured! promises of others. The fourth 
situation^which we mentioned, the possi- 
bility|of|the complete loss of your posi- 
tion, through attempts to get into some- 
thing|else is, however, a different matter. 
That isjsomething which is likely to come 
home|to|any|man at any time if he is in 
thefjemploye class. We can advise you 
on that subject and say at once advertise 



TWO EU1DBED SIXTY 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Four 

if you desire a new position. Not with 
two or three lines as most do but with a 
fifty, sixty, or even a hundred line adver- 
tisement, depending of course on the cir- 
culation and price of the paper. From 
five to twenty dollars invested in a good 
advertisement is one of the best invest- 
ments you could possibly make. Because 
it will prove to you in job getting, just as 
it will in capital raising, that a smart 
person need never be without work for 
long periods. By this we refer of course 
to the higher or better positions — those 
paying from twenty-five to a hundred 
dollars per week. By this method you 
have the advantage. When the employer 
answers your advertisement he is already 
partly convinced, and you are in a better 
position to dictate terms. Also you have 
little competition since the employer is 
not likely to write to many others. The 
truth of our claim that advertising pays 
when one wants a position is fully proved 
by the thousands of pages of that class 
of advertising which is carried in news- 
papers throughout the country every 
week. If it did not pay, that fact would 
be soon noised around and those who pay 
money for such space would at once stop 



TWO HUNDRED SIXTY-ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Four 

doing so. But when we advise the use of 
a large advertisement instead of the 
usual three or four lines we make a state- 
ment which, to one not entirely familiar 
with advertising as we are, might need 
some proof. We are going out of our 
way to prove this because we feel a sort 
of responsibility, to those who read our 
book, to give them all the protection they 
need against possible adversity. If we 
show you how to better your salaried 
position and also show you how to get 
started in business for yourself at little 
or no expense we have done all that could 
be expected of us. Our full duty indeed, 
and angels could do no more. Here is the 
proposition. "Granted that advertising 
for a position is ordinarily reasonably suc- 
cessful we are to show that a fifty line 
advertisement will produce a position 
quicker than four lines.' ' This we shall 
do, taking the facts of human experience 
as our evidence. You have no doubt 
visited the department stores and noticed 
the crowds at various counters. Did you 
also notice that those stores use quarter 
pages or more in space? Can you imagine 
in wildest dreams, that a business of a 
million or more yearly could be produced 



TWO HUNDRED SIXTY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty -Four 

with a four line advertisement? When the 
banks advertise do they use four lines? 
Never. When the mail order mercantile 
houses advertise do they use much space? 
All they need. Would four lines do them 
much good? Hardly. When manufac- 
turers advertise do they prefer large to 
small space? Always the former. Now 
it would seem that those statements, 
which are matters of common knowledge, 
are sufficient proof of the fact that a large 
advertisement produces more replies than 
a small one. That being true all you need 
to do is to increase the space, if you want 
many replies quickly from which to make 
your selection of a position. We are 
aware that many will dispute our con- 
clusions and if you are at all skeptical 
on this matter try it out. Place a fifty 
line and a four line advertisement on any 
subject you wish, in the same paper on 
different days. Note the results and be 
convinced. We know positively our con- 
tention is correct but we do not expect a 
doubter to believe it without first hand 
proof. Happily the means are at hand 
so that any one may try for himself , which 
is the only true way to settle all argu- 
ments. 



TWO HUNDRED SIXTY-THREE 



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Chapter Thirty-Four 

"I am prejudiced in favor of him who, without 
impudence, can ask boldly. He has faith in 
humanity, and faith in himself. 91 — Lavater. 




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Chapter Thirty-Five 

"Extreme views are never just; something 
always turns up which disturbs calculations 
founded on their data," — Tancred. 



HONSERVATISM, caution, careful, 
cool, calm. Those words are in 
common use among a certain class of 
newspapers and people who aim to lead 
the world in backwardness. Nothing, it 
is said, was made in vain, so while we 
believe these words are a positive damage 
when used too freely yet there is no doubt 
but what they are of use in some ways. 
They do not particularly apply to the 
raising of capital for there the hustler is 
supreme. But they do apply to a choice 
of a kind of business in which to enter. 
Experiments are extremely attractive to 
some, perhaps because of curiosity or the 
chance of sudden wealth. With relation 
to untried experiments, then, is where 
we advise extreme caution. Not only by 
reason of the lessened chances of success 
but by reason of the increased difficulty 
of raising capital. The investor always 
has an eagle eye on the safety of his prin- 
cipal. He wants profits, to be sure, but 
show him a proposition where he is reas- 



TWO HUNDRED SIXTY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty -Five 

onably sure to preserve his principal and 
he will feel more kindly disposed toward 
it than toward some new scheme of which 
he is totally ignorant. Experiments are 
all right in their place. So many of them 
go wrong, however, that it is hardly a 
compliment to ask for capital in cases 
where there are no examples at hand by 
which to prove that the proposition is a 
feasible one. The point is this. The 
average man can raise ten thousand dol- 
lars for use in regular lines of business 
for every one thousand he could raise for 
experiments. It seems to us he could 
make more money in an ordinary busi- 
ness with ten thousand than he could by 
experimenting with untried enterprises. 
Not that capital cannot be obtained for 
entirely new propositions. It can, and is 
being done every day. But it is harder, 
much harder, and the peace of mind one 
lacks is also to be considered. We believe 
a tranquil mind is one of the greatest 
boons of men. It is surely a vast help 
to success and as a guarantee of happiness 
has no equal. Not to lack ambition, 
but to control it, is the idea. To make 
ambition subjective to happiness is, we 
believe, the grandest accomplishment of 



TWO HUNDEED SIXTY- SEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Five 

the human race and the example of the 
higher class of business men who work 
much, but also play much, is the greatest 
proof of the truth of the statement. It 
is not the purpose of this book particu- 
larly to advise regarding the choice of a 
line of business. But since the ease of 
capital raising depends to a certain ex- 
tent upon that choice we would not feel 
that our whole duty has been performed 
did we not utter this word of caution. 
For the sake of your peace of mind, your 
progress in business, your safety and to 
prevent discouragement, be very careful 
about wasting much time with experi- 
mental propositions which need capital. 
You can easily find out how the public 
regards your particular scheme by placing 
an advertisement for investors. Follow 
the names by the methods described in 
other chapters but if the investors do not 
display much interest be very certain 
they are fearful of the outcome. The 
interviewing of a half dozen is a fair test 
and by the results of your judgment on 
the interviews we believe you would be 
wise in abiding. 



TWO EUNSBEB SIXTY-EIGHT 



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Chapter Thirty -Five 

"No violent extremes endure; a sober moder- 
ation stands secure." — Aleyn. 




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TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY 



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Chapter Thirty Six 

"If a man empties his purse into his head no 
man can take it away from him. An invest- 
ment in knowledge always pays the best inter- 
est." — Benj. Franklin. 



KNOWLEDGE is merely the theoreti- 
cal preparation for practical work. 
If you are trying to raise capital for a 
store or any other line of business there 
are certain subjects with which you 
should be at least on speaking terms. 
These are those — Experience, Advertising, 
Salesmanship, Collections, Care of stock, 
Buying stock, Bookkeeping, Business and 
Commercial Forms. Just a few words on 
each. Experience is a dear school. ii How- 
ever learned or eloquent, man knows 
nothing truly that he has not learned by 
experience." — Wieland. We strongly ad- 
vise you to gain some real working know- 
ledge of your business before trying 
to obtain a partner or to form a corpor- 
ation. There is nothing so easily de- 
tected, nothing which the investor will 
see as soon, as a lack of experience. There 
is really no excuse for failing to possess a 
little practical working knowledge, un- 
less indeed, the subject be an entirely 



TWO HTUITOBED SEVENTT-OITE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty -Six 

new one. This is unlikely. But in any 
event the method of placing it before the 
public will not be new and, in lieu of 
possible knowledge on the subject itself, 
be sure you have a thorough idea of the 
way in which you propose exploiting it. 
We have known of successful men who 
sacrificed many dollars in earnings and 
much time to gain coveted experience 
before making any effort whatever to get 
the money with which to push the prop- 
osition. Such a move is, if necessary 
well worth while. We do not mean to 
waste years but a few weeks, we imagine, 
with what you already know should 
brush up the ideas sufficiently to enable 
you, even if practically inexperienced, to 
present a very good front with the aid of 
our book suggestions. Advertising to 
secure business is a very important sub- 
ject and one which is very apt to enter 
into your talks with investors, in spite of 
your efforts to cut such conversation 
short. You know the best way to keep 
the peace is to be ready to fight, for then 
the enemy keeps his distance. Same in 
business, precisely. The investor will 
not ask you one-tenth the number of 
questions if he sees at once you under- 



TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Six 

stand the different subjects with which 
you should be familiar. You can learn 
about advertising in a number of different 
ways. In the meantime the subject 
covers newspaper, billboard, street car, 
magazine, theatre program advertising, 
also the distributing of samples and cir- 
culars as well as window displays. So it 
is quite a subject. Pick out the different 
kinds which in your opinion will apply 
best to your proposition and find out 
all you can about costs, probable results, 
etc. Then comes Salesmanship. You ad- 
vertise merely to get people interested e- 
nough to call at your store or write you as 
the case may be. The next thing to do is to 
load them up with goods which you believe 
will please them at the same time making 
you a profit. This may be either on cash 
or credit. And right here let us say the 
credit business is not so bad as some 
think. You can get three times the profit 
and make five to ten times the sales as a 
rule. A little care in weeding out the 
dead ones in advance and making the 
collections from the balance and you 
have a mighty fine proposition. Credit 
is practical and customary — therefore 
often expected. While we strongly urge 



TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY-THREE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Six 

a cash business where possible, yet if you 
will make a careful study of credits and 
collections you will find it will well repay 
your time and open up possibilities 
which never appear to a cash business 
man. Buying stock is next in order. 
Years ago they thought ' 'buying' ' was 
all there was to it. But today it is differ- 
ent. Prices are more stable. However 
they wabble enough to make the study 
of buying stock a valuable asset to the 
aspiring business man. Many sugges- 
tions may be offered you on this subject. 
Please bear this one in mind. If you de- 
cide a salesman's offerings might be ad- 
vantageous to you let him talk. Pretty 
soon he will get tired, anxious to close 
with you and do something else. Watch 
him closely when he is not looking for 
his unconscious acts will tell you plainly 
when he has made his lowest offer. Above 
all wait. If your time is short tell him to 
come again. Do not hurry, let him lead 
in the conversation and never forget that 
the bottom of prices has not yet been 
reached. These points are here presented 
just to give you an idea of the kind of talk 
that will interest the investor when it be- 
comes necessary for you to say something 



TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY-FOUR 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Six 

along these lines. Care of stock really 
belongs under the general head of adver- 
tising, and in the subdivision of window 
display, for the internal arrangement of 
a store is one of its best advertisements 
and is the one which will linger in the 
memory of the customer. Prevention of 
theft, is another item which can always 
be depended upon to interest the investor. 
This is accomplished by an inexpensive 
card system record of incoming and out 
going goods. When used in connection 
with the carbon sales check system, it 
means no less than an inexpensive daily 
inventory which is a positive preventative 
of continuous thievery by clerks or even 
outsiders. This subject leads naturally 
to the topics of Bookkeeping and Commer- 
cial forms. These are important, inter- 
esting and profitable to yourself as well 
as to be discussed with the investor if 
necessary. The authors of this book 
favor card systems and loose leaf ledgers 
and use both in their various business 
enterprises. Their use cuts down the 
list, leaving only the live customers which 
is always most desirable. When you have 
interviewed three or four investors you 
will see the need of more or less know- 



TTO HUNDRED SEVEWTT-PXVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty -Six 

ledge on the subjects named in this 
chapter. It is true you may easily suc- 
ceed without any further light on any of 
them. Since this book is prepared for 
old and young, in financial matters, we 
have made the above suggestions, hoping 
of course, you, in particular, will not 
need them. But if you do need them, 
the need will be urgent and the pointers 
are here. 



"Capacity without education is deplorable 
and education without capacity is thrown 
away." — Saadi. 




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Chapter Thirty-Seven 

"He who calls in the aid of an equal under- 
standing doubles his own; and he who profits 
by a superior understanding raises his powers 
to a level with the height of the superior under- 
standing he unites with." — Burke. 



IT&jlO doubt Mr. Burke had given good 



advice and no doubt it had not been 
heeded. Also, being a wise and sensible 
man he had himself been a recipient of 
like favors but had profited by 
them. Conning the affairs of men, the 
mistakes of some, the fortunes of others, 
gave rise to the utterance that he who 
profits by good advice is wise. If you are 
among those of our readers who are con- 
templating the organizing of a corpora- 
tion for business purposes we are going to 
offer a little advice, but we are also going 
to back up that advice with some solid 
facts. The advice is this. Do not try to 
organize a corporation of large capital 
unless you have money, friends, influence 
and plenty of time. 

The facts are these. 

First — The raising of capital in large 
amounts by stock selling is a long drawn 



TWO HUNT* RED SEVENTY- EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 

Chapter Thirty -Seven 

out wearisome affair. 

Second — It is very expensive. 

Third — It is apt to over-try your patience. 

Fourth — Without experience you are 
likely to fail in the attempt. 

Fifth — If unsuccessful you must suffer 
loss. 

Sixth — If very successful you are pretty 
sure to be frozen out. 

Seventh — The mere promises of others 
are bad security upon which to base your 
hopes of a square deal in profits. 

We do not present these facts to throw cold 
water on the hopes or the ambitious but 
merely to lend caution to endeavor. 
Remember Juvenal's words "No other 
protection is wanting providing you are 
under the guidance of prudence/ ' Sup- 
pose your limit in capital raising is one 
thousand dollars in two weeks. It takes 
a good salesman to average the sale of that 
many dollars worth of stock. Simple fig- 
ures will show that two hundred weeks or 
four years would be required to raise a 
hundred thousand dollars by the efforts 



TWO HUNDRED SEVENTY-NINE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Seven 

of one man on that basis. If two men 
were selling the stock both averaging as 
above two years would be required. If 
ten men were selling the stock each aver- 
aging a thousand dollars in two weeks it 
would even then require twenty weeks or 
nearly a half year to dispose of a hundred 
thousand dollars worth of stock at par. 
You may, after thinking over the above 
statement, wonder where the big corpor- 
ations come from. They are mostly or- 
ganized at social gatherings in men's 
clubs. Some one suggests a good idea, 
the others obligate themselves by admit- 
ting that it looks like a money maker and 
before they know it, unwittingly per- 
haps, they have signed their names to a 
stock subscription list. Then, in the 
morning, they go to the bank and borrow 
the money to pay for the stock. This 
they do to make their word good before 
their social equals and only carries out 
what we always contend, that the surest 
way to secure an investor is to place him, 
by an apparently innocent suggestion, 
under some sort of an obligation. No 
matter how slight the obligation it will 
be effective if the investor has the sense 
of honor that is given to the most of us. 



TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty -Seven 

But let us proceed. The second fact we 
stated was that raising capital in large 
sums is expensive. To illustrate. Sup- 
pose you had ten salesmen and wanted 
fifty thousand dollars figuring it would 
take ten weeks to sell that many dollars 
worth of stock. Those salesmen would each 
have to be paid at least a hundred dollars 
each week. That amounts to ten thous- 
and dollars, besides keeping up an elab- 
orate suite of offices and paying big ad- 
vertising bills, printing bills, postage, etc. 
in all at least five thousand more. Fifteen 
thousand, all told, if you are lucky. Where 
is that money to come from? Are you 
going down in your pocket for that sum? 
Not very likely. Then will you pay it out 
of proceeds of stock sales? You may, if 
each stock purchaser agrees to it, which 
is not very likely. In the latter case you 
are in hot water for using other people's 
money outside of the legitimate business 
of the corporation. Investors are wise 
nowadays to that very trick and are likely 
to ask that very question. The answer is 
the hardest of all to make and still secure 
the investment. Now as to fact number 
three. It requires so much time, so 
much money, and good salesmen are so 



TWO HTJNDKED EIGHTH-ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty -Seven 

hard to find, that you are likely to overtax 
yourendurance and just quit discouraged. 
Number Four. Without experience your 
salesmen will deceive you with false pros- 
pects, fake expenses, etc. Your pros- 
pectus may not be convincing — your ad- 
vertising copy poor and unproductive. 
Fifth fact. If you do not raise the whole 
amount you, yourself, stand to foot the 
expense bill. Sixth fact. You have no 
surety that you will not be cheated out 
of your share, if the business is very suc- 
cessful. Men usually get piggish when 
anything worth while is to be gained. 
Seventh — the mere promises of the stock- 
holders will avail you nothing. If they 
want to put you out they will find lawyers 
who are smart enough to do it. Remem- 
ber — ownership and possession is nine 
points of the law. A contract is a con- 
tract to be sure — but — they are broken 
every day. 

Perhaps we have said enough about the 
difficult part. But the old saying occurs 
to us here, "Never tear down a house un- 
til you are ready to build a better one." 
So we add, that, while advising you to 
be careful about fooling around with a 



TWO HUHDREB EIGHTY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty 'Seven 

corporation bee in your bonnet — take the 
other alternative. Look about you, find 
some smaller enterprise, there are many 
which will make just as much money for 
you and get a partner. In this way avoid 
the worry which is always incident to a 
corporation of numbers, be your own 
boss and agree with one partner, instead 
of being at the beck and call of many. 
Incidentally, own a half interest instead 
of a fifth or tenth. That is a big consid- 
eration. However, we know that many 
of our readers will still insist upon the 
corporation plan. Therefore we present 
here the best methods for guidance and 
will base our argument on a corporation 
of fifty thousand dollars capital stock, 
divided into equal amounts of common 
and preferred stock. The preferred to 
be sold at par — one share of common to 
be given, at first, with two shares of pre- 
ferred. Shares one hundred dollars each, 
par-value. That means two hundred 
fifty shares of each kind of stock. Now in 
a corporation of that size the first ten 
thousand dollars is where the rub comes 
in. Get that and the rest is comparative- 
ly easy, for the original stockholders 
will usually subscribe more, also they will 



TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY-THREE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty Seven 

bring in their friends, if necessary, to 
complete the subscription list. You will 
probably want one hundred shares of 
common for your idea, experience, knowl- 
edge, patent, claim or what ever else of 
value you have to devote to the good of 
the corporation. That leaves one hun- 
dred fifty shares of common to be distrib- 
uted among the preferred shareholders 
to the best advantage. Obtain subscrip- 
tions for a hundred shares of preferred 
at par with a bonus of one common with 
every two preferred. That will leave one 
hundred fifty shares of preferred and one 
hundred shares of common in the treas- 
ury. With ten thousand dollars in the 
bank and ten stock holders to help, the 
balance should be an easy matter. One 
grand way is to call the ten stockholders 
together and propose to them to pool 
interests on the balance. This means 
they join in taking the stock, you to help 
them dispose of it and they to share 
equally in the results of the sale and have 
an equal division of the common stock 
that is left after the preferred is sold to 
the best advantage and with as little gift 
of common stock as is possible. This 
gains three points. First it cleans up 



TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY-FOUB. 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Seven 

the stock sale as far as the corporation is 
concerned and makes it a private matter. 
Second — the stock moves easily on ac- 
count of a number of interested persons 
trying to push the sale. Last, but not 
least, these very stockholders are almost 
certain to get into an argument over the 
value of that common stock, on account 
of different ideas as to what price it 
should be sold at, with the result that 
they are pretty certain to take all that is 
left, of both kinds, themselves, which 
would not hurt your feelings, in the least. 
There comes a time in the history of 
nearly every corporation, while being 
organized, when the original stock- 
holders get anxious to see the wheels of 
industry moving and "take the bull by 
the horns' ' so to speak as far as the bal- 
ance of the capital is concerned. Having 
jumped in they want to see whether they 
can swim or not before wading out. 
Curiosity again, but it helps you, as it 
always will, if handled properly. Reader, 
we are not getting ahead of our subject. 
We merely wanted to show it is not nec- 
essary to get all the capital at first. Get 
ten thousand out of the twenty-five and 
you can rest reasonably certain of the 



TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY-FIVE 



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Chapter Thirty -Seven 

balance. You see planning that way 
gets rid of a lot of trouble and expense 
for you. Ten thousand is infinitely eas- 
ier to get, on the start, when every thous- 
and comes like pulling teeth, than 
twenty-five thousand. Now about secur- 
ing ten original subscriptions. One plan 
for city people, then the same plan, with 
a slight variation in detail, for those liv- 
ing in smaller towns. Some of the pre- 
liminary work you must do yourself but 
there comes a point at which you can 
turn the real work over to another, to be 
described later. You should prepare a 
prospectus with care setting forth in 
detail the proposed business in its most 
advantageous light. When this work is 
ready you should place your advertise- 
ment in the paper. Use enough space to 
produce at least thirty replies. These 
should be sufficient to provide ten actual 
subscribers. Now here is where we must 
recall our cardinal principle which is — to 
place the investor under an, at first un- 
conscious, obligation. How can this be 
best accomplished? Listen to Jerdan. 
"The pleasant talk of the dinner table 
promotes digestion and prevents the 
mind from dwelling on the grinding of 



TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty -Seven 

the digestive mill that is going on within 
us. The satisfaction and repose that 
follows a full meal tend to check a dis- 
position to splenetic argument, or too 
much zeal in supporting an opinion, 
while the freedom and abandon of the 
intercourse kept up is eminently condu- 
cive to thefeelingsof general benevolence. " 
Or to Stowell who says "A dinner lubri- 
cates business.' ' There it is as plain as 
day. A good dinner. Who will refuse? 
Not many. The obligation thus imposed 
is one of the cleanest, one of the fairest 
and above all one of the most effective. 
You should call upon the investors who 
answer your advertisement, get acquaint- 
ed with them and, to those who seem 
desirable, say you are going to give a little 
dinner to talk it over, have a good meal 
and a good time and you want them to 
come and meet your friends whether they 
desire to become interested or not. You 
will send them a written invitation with 
date later. Now the class of people who 
answer financial advertisements are 
usually those who have more or less 
spare time and you will find such an idea 
will appeal to them. Out of thirty replies 
you should find at least twenty who will 



TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY-SEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Seven 

accept and be on hand at the party. Now 
you secure the services of a friend, lawyer, 
or politician to do the honors as toast- 
master, or master of ceremonies. After 
the dinner is well under way he can in- 
troduce the subject and after a short 
speech ask for subscriptions to the stock 
list. If you could have a couple of good 
friends handy to start off the subscrip- 
tion with a thousand dollars worth of 
stock each that would be fine. Just 
something to get the ball rolling, you 
know, and make the rest feel ashamed if 
they took less. In a little meeting of this 
kind it is always a bit slow to get the 
start made so this must be provided for 
in advance. Good food, good jokes, plenty 
of merriment and then a short, serious, 
well-timed talk and the "trick is turned.' ' 
People will sign for a hundred shares 
under the influence of a good dinner 
when they could not be canvassed for 
five cents any other way. They think 
you are a good fellow and want to know 
you better if it does cost money. (Let us 
hope you are a good fellow in the truest 
sense, and that your acquaintance will 
make them money.) 



TWO HUNDKED EI&HTY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Seven 

You will gain a lot by dealing with cor- 
poration investors in crowds. You will 
save time and money. You will accom- 
plish your object quicker because men are 
like geese — they follow the leader; they 
are like sheep who believe there is pro- 
tection in numbers ; but they are not like 
the fox who treads his lonely path in 
solitude trying to evade the Sun in veriest 
secrecy. 

The above outlined plan is the best and 
most feasible method we know of, which 
combines speed and inexpensiveness. It 
is, of course, simpler to establish an office, 
employ stock salesmen, insert your ad- 
vertisements and aid the salesmen in 
disposing of the stock. But it is more 
expensive and less certain. For the very 
good reason that stock salesmen are 
scarce as well as costly. Just as soon as a 
stock salesman finds that he can actually 
sell stock he forthwith organizes a com- 
pany or secures a partner and becomes a 
business man. And who can blame him? 
Certainly not we, for we think he is right 
in doing so. But, whether or no, that is 
the reason and by that sign competent 
stock salesmen are hard to get. If you 



TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY-NXETE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Seven 

wanted to sell a half million of bonds, well 
secured, that would be different. But 
there is a vast difference between secured 
bonds and ordinary stock. One is sure, 
the other chance. Now we advise you to 
apply the first plan in this chapter to 
your proposition believing that experience 
proves to be the best and easiest way of 
placing the investor under obligation to 
you which is the prime moving power 
precedent to his purchase of stock. On 
the other hand if you can locate a good 
salesman the second plan is less trouble, 
if more expensive. In either case be sure 
your advertisements are large enough to 
draw a number of replies as the investors 
are the ones who will finally prove to you 
what is wrong, if anything, and will in- 
variably point out unconsciously, per- 
haps, the way to remedy it. 

If you live in a very small town where 
there are no facilities for advertising it 
will be necessary for you to introduce 
your proposition of your own volition to 
persons whom you think would be desir- 
able as investors. Then invite them to a 
social dinner, at which event you should 
follow the first plan laid outfin this 



TWO KUJHJDKED JSTHTETT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty 'Seven 

chapter. There is no difference whatever 
except in the manner of securing the 
names of possible, or likely investors. 
This, it is almost certain, you will have 
to do. The actual work of interesting 
the investors and securing their sub- 
scriptions can be turned over to the 
friend, lawyer or politician, as previously 
suggested. But if you want to advertise 
for investors in the cities you might do 
well to go to a city, temporarily, to try 
out your plan. In cases of propositions 
requiring more money than a very small 
town could easily produce this latter sug- 
gestion is often advisable. We have 
offered this book as what we believe to be 
a practical method of obtaining a start 
in business. No more, no less. In doing 
so we knew that many would insist on 
the corporation plan as their salvation. 
While we do not see how you could have 
much trouble in obtaining a partner by 
our method we do see how you may have 
trouble in launching a large corporation 
at first and without experience. If you 
do find it difficult it will not be the fault 
of the book nor the plans outlined. It 
will be because you are afraid to lay out 
the necessary money for advertising, or, 



TWO HUNDRED NINETY-ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty Seven 

you lack the perseverance to carry it 
through to the end. 



"See first that the design is wise and Just, 
that ascertained pursue it resolutely; do not, 
for one repulse, forego the purpose that you 
resolved to effect," — Shakespeare, 




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TWO EUNDSED B EM UT V. -FOUR 



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Chapter Thirty-Eight 

'Look before you leap; see before you go." 

— Tusser. 



[W1ANY things come up in the course 
iLaJI of the chase for capital to annoy 
the promoter. He is likely to be con- 
stantly beset with many temptations to 
step aside from the path laid out here. 
This, that, and the other idea will appeal 
to him as possible, likely, even certain. 
Since one can never know anything is 
true until it is a matter of his own ex- 
perience we do not blame the weaker ones 
very much for hesitating, vacillating, 
being undecided. But there is one warn- 
ing which- we can and do hold out and 
that is, do not waste your time and money 
with the class of sharks who offer 
flattering inducements to actually raise 
money for you. A little experience will 
prove to you most conclusively that all 
they are looking for is a hundred or two 
hundred dollars of your money without 
giving adequate value for it. If you had 
ten thousand dollars of your own and 
wanted five thousand more in your busi- 
ness a few of them would be able to get 
it for you. But your business would 



TWO HUNIKRED NOnETY-FIVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chap ter Th ir ty -Eigh t 

have to be already on a profitable basis, 
you would have to put up security for 
their fees and what do you think they 
would charge? A thousand or more is all. 
You could do the work yourself by using 
our method for not over fifty dollars and 
if conditions were favorable it is not likely 
to cost you over a ten dollar bill. On the 
other hand. Suppose you have practi- 
cally nothing, except fifty or a hundred or 
two hundred dollars which you have laid 
up for a rainy day. The sharks would 
find that out and would worm it away 
from you on one pretext or another. A 
favorite method of theirs would be in 
case you wanted to incorporate, to charge 
you all you would stand for a charter on 
the pretext that they could put you in 
touch with capitalists, who had already 
become interested in your proposed line 
of business, and were just waiting for 
you to incorporate so they could hand 
you their money. It is perhaps needless 
to say that many credulous persons are 
caught in this net, also that the sharks 
lose all interest as soon as they get the 
charter and the money. Another way 
which is practiced by the cheaper class 
of sharks, in case you want either a part- 



TWO HUNDRED NINETY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Eight 

ner or to incorporate, is after the first 
interview to make an appointment with 
you, for a day or two later, to give them 
a chance, as they say, to get in touch with 
their friends, the investors, and interest 
them in your project. You fulfil your 
appointment. You find they have, ap- 
parently, seen a prominent capitalist, 
have had just a short talk with him, he 
became interested but pleaded lack of 
time and made a dinner appointment for 
the evening to finish the details and close 
the deal. Also the talk was had in the 
presence of a couple of bosom friends of 
the capitalist and of necessity they were 
included in the invitation to dinner. 
That makes four for dinner for you are 
not invited. They are all to see you next 
day. But the shark feels that he cannot 
go to a lot of expense on your account 
unless you pay part of the bill. He is, 
ostensibly, willing to stand half. He 
thinks the kind of meal the capitalists 
are accustomed to will cost probably 
about forty dollars since they are high 
livers, but he will make it less if possible. 
So you are supposed at this juncture to 
hand the shark twenty dollars, on the 
strength of his assurance that the deal 



TWO HTJNDKED & UA JJTY-SEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Eight 

is as good as closed already, to pay your 
share of the expense. It is a very clever 
scheme and perfectly natural. More 
than that if it were "on the level" it 
would be no more than you, yourself, 
would do for the capitalist, if you felt 
that a good dinner would give you a 
pretty sure chance of success with him. 
Apparently, as the result shows, the shark 
has a good dinner, but for some unfor- 
seen reason the investor jumps the track 
and the deal is off. We believe from what 
we are able to learn that several million 
dollars are wasted in such ways as this 
every year. Of course, we have not, in 
two ordinary illustrations, attempted to 
even cover slightly the devious devices 
by which these sharks extract money from 
the unwary. Their wiles remind one of 
the couplet 

"For ways that are queer 

And tricks that are vain 

The heathen Chinee is peculiar." 

The said "Chinee" had twenty-four pre- 
pared decks of cards carefully tucked 
away in the large sleeves of his kimono 
blouse. But the money raising sharks 
can give the "Chinee" cards and spades 



TWO STODEBD NIirETY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Eight 

and then show more tricks in the same 
length of time than the poor "Chink" 
had ever dreamed could exist even in the 
wildest stretch of his imagination. But 
the tricks of the sharks are good, in a way, 
that is they appear so life-like and reason- 
able' that it is not strange the ambitious 
young man should allow his pocket money 
to change ownership. Yes, and the older 
ones, too, they do not always get away. 
For ambition knows no age, and where 
ambition is, there is also susceptibility. 
However, we do not believe you would be 
caught a second time in any such trap as 
the ones described. If you have already 
had such an experience it will be a lesson 
worth remembering. But, if not then 
be warned in time because the sharks will 
get your money if you fool around them. 
Let us examine the question in the cold 
light of reason. Let us suppose you are 
like the average person who wants to 
start a small business. You have saved 
a little, perhaps, or not as the case may 
be. Yet you know you are capable, 
honest, respectable, and feel you should 
get on faster. The only way you can do 
that is to get into business. You present 
yourself at the shark's office and ask him 



TWO HIjaDESD NTtTfiT X -T5TBTB 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Eight 

to raise two, three, four thousand dollars 
for you with nothing but honesty and a 
good name to offer as security. These are 
valuable assets in their place but they do 
not weigh very heavily with the shark. 
You are not the kind he wants. What 
he wants is a big commission and security 
for its payment. Therefore if your posi- 
tion is such that he could do anything 
for you, you could do the same thing for 
yourself with one-twentieth part the ex- 
pense. Why? Because he will have to 
advertise for an investor, but if he does, 
he will make you pay for it, and under 
such conditions you might just as well 
do it yourself. Be assured you will have 
to stand all the expenses for he will not 
risk one dollar of his money. Your 
chance of success would be much greater 
by yourself, for an investor would prefer 
to deal direct with you than through him. 

Even suppose he did raise three thousand 
dollars for you. How are you to pay his 
commission? You cannot take it out 
of your future partner's money, for that 
would be criminal. Yet the shark won't 
want to turn over the money to you until 
his commission is paid and certainly he 



THREE HUNDRED 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Eight 

will not want to wait until you earn the 
money. So you see there is no way you 
can deal to advantage with that class of 
people. They are leeches living on the 
few dollars they can pick up here and 
there and the best thing you can do is to 
leave them severely alone. We do not 
doubt there are some honest ones among 
so many but if so we have never heard of 
them and we have had occasion to know 
a great deal about them and their oper- 
ations in different parts of the country. 
No harm in calling upon them if you 
wish, but put your money under padlock 
and key at home, just to be sure it is safe. 
This book contains the details of the only 
successful methods for the raising of 
ordinary amounts of capital. We are 
very sure some will stumble against money 
in one way or another different from the 
ones we describe. But you do not want 
to depend on chance altogether. You 
want to be reasonably sure. Therefore, 
we say that capital-raising is just like 
conducting a business in this sense, that, 
if a system is employed and persistently 
followed it is a great deal more certain of 
success than by the use of slip shod 
methods. We do not claim a monopoly 



THREE J£UJN1>BXD OTfTE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Eight 

of the knowledge existing upon financial 
subjects. We are not in the class of men 
who can capitalize this week for a million, 
sell the stock at par and next week do the 
same trick over again. That is financial 
genius and genius in finance as in other 
lines needs no teacher. This book does 
not deal with million dollar propositions. 
It is for one purpose and one alone — to 
aid the ordinary ambitious man to get a 
start in the right way and at the least 
expense. We believe that cause is one 
worthy of our best efforts and leave you 
to judge of our success in presenting the 
facts as they actually exist. 



"Discretion is the perfection of reason, and 
a guide to us in all the duties of life," 

— Bruyere. 




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THREZ: ETODRED FOUR 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Nine 

"There is a woman at the beginning of all 
great things." — Lamartine. 



SjHUS far in the world's history it has 
MM been recognized that the woman is 
the keeper of the home. Also the men 
have been supposed to hustle around and 
provide the livelihood. But it is not al- 
ways ordained that way. In late years 
women have come to depend less and less 
upon men and today no small percentage 
of the homes is supported mainly by the 
efforts of business women. More or less 
noise is heard, in the sensational papers, 
as to whether this state of affairs is for the 
best or not. For our part we can see no 
good reason why a woman should not 
enter the field of business and compete 
with man on an equal footing. Business 
is a matter of brains, thought, intelligent 
action. It is no longer a matter of mus- 
cular energy. It is a question of wits, 
cleverness, shrewdness in handling people 
and situations. And when it gets down 
to a question of wits or cleverness we be- 
lieve the women far outclass the men as a 
rule. But the men have the advantage 
early in life because they rub against the 



TEBE£ HUTCDBJBD FIVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Nine 

world sooner than the women. There- 
fore it would appear that the average wo- 
man is just ready to learn about the busi- 
ness world at a time when the man has 
already had several years experience. This 
works as a handicap and is a source of dis- 
couragement to most women which it is 
hard to overcome. We are wont to form 
our comparisons with others of about our 
own age, and while a few years in age has 
no relation whatever to the relative brain 
capacity yet we are apt to say "well, so 
and so is ten years older — he should be 
farther advanced than I . ' ' This book was 
prepared for public use and we would not 
be satisfied to give all the advantages to 
the men when the women need business 
aids so much more. At the outset we 
will say that there is very little if any in- 
formation herein which does not apply 
with equal force to women as to men. We 
have not intended to advise any course of 
action which is dishonorable and we be- 
lieve a woman is entitled to perform any 
honorable act of business life in the same 
manner that would be considered fair and 
square if done by a man. Therefore if 
the reader is a woman, and if you have 
had any scruples about entering a busi- 



TTTRTiK BTTBTDBSD SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty 'Nine 

ness career on account of the business 
methods of some dishonest men, we earn- 
estly hope you will not consider that 
phase of the situation further. For, as a 
rule, the world is honest. Not divinely 
so, perhaps, but since we are all not di- 
vine, but only human, we should judge 
humanity by ordinary human standards. 
In other words the world of business is 
fully as honest, on the average, as you or 
we are, or would be under similar circum- 
stances. Business life is a constant strug- 
gle for supremacy and he is fortunate in- 
deed who, upon entering such a career, 
does not get touched by some of its foul- 
ness and evil. There will come times 
when it will seem impossible to stem the 
tide without dishonesty, but we believe 
the conscience of the average person a 
sufficient guide in such crises. Fifteen 
dollars a week is considered a good salary 
for a woman. Fifty dollars a week is a 
small income from a business which is at 
all successful. Now it takes just as smart 
a woman to earn a salary of fifteen dollars 
a week as to make fifty dollars or more a 
week in business. Add to this the fact 
that the fifty is only a starter. Again add 
the fact that a business woman has com- 



S9EKE3B HUITDSED SEVEN" 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty 'Nine 

mand of her own time. Also that she has 
a far better field to select from in the 
matrimonial race and we have a combina- 
tion of facts which ought to cause any 
ambitious woman to make a desperate 
effort to become established. We know, 
however, the judgment of women as a class 
is not as well developed as that of men be- 
cause of a home education instead of a 
worldly one. Therefore we realize that 
the women will make a greater percentage 
failures than men. Not in raising the 
money, because the average capital re- 
quired by woman is not as large as men 
usually need in business operations. 
Their ideas are not as a rule as extensive 
and therefore the raising of the capital 
should be easier. But a woman is more 
likely to fail in her judgment on costs and 
profits. If then the reader should be un- 
fortunate enough to get a good start but 
fail later we sincerely hope she will not 
allow that to discourage her, but do as 
the men do, learn by experience and start 
right over again. You know you are not 
limited in this book to one start. You 
may require several — who knows? Cer- 
tainly we hope not. Yet it often happens 
that one needs to be punished a lot before 



THjB.EE hundred eight 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Nine 

he can realize the true way to live and 
gain. Hard knocks seem necessary in 
many cases to finish one's education. Our 
suggestion is that you study thisbookcare- 
fully many times until its principles be- 
long to you. Make them part of your life. 
Do not be afraid to spend a few dollars in 
trying out its methods. For after you 
have obtained the knowledge that you can 
actually raise money by our system you 
will never be in doubt again as to what 
course to pursue. You will know what 
you want to do in a business way, and will 
also know that you can do it, if it is reas- 
onable. Now as to the method of pro- 
cedure. You should study carefully the 
plans laid out for every body in the other 
chapters of this book. Those plans are 
the best for men and women alike. We 
should not have written a chapter espe- 
cially for women except for two reasons. 
One is that in books for public sale the 
author is supposed to use masculine 
terms when directing remarks to both 
sexes. This might have led some women 
to believe the book was intended solely 
for men. That is not true as our methods 
may be used successfully by either sex. 
The other reason is that there is one point 



THKEE EUSIMKED BIKE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Nine 

which works to the advantage of women 
and that is the matter of personal appear- 
ance. Not that it is necessary to be ex- 
tremely beautiful, not at all. Beauty, 
while always admired, is more expected 
of society dolls than of business women. 
But a clever woman with a good appear- 
ance as to dress need have no fear about 
securing a business partner or raising a 
reasonable amount of capital. Men are 
naturally interested in women. They re- 
gard women as the weaker vessel and are, 
as a class, ever ready to extend the helping 
hand. Especially is this true in the case 
of a neat, clever, attractive business wo- 
man. We understand, of course, that a 
cruel world may remark upon the asso- 
ciation of a woman with a man in a busi- 
ness enterprise. But that same cruel 
world also makes remarks about the sal- 
aried business woman. In fine, the world 
is no respecter of persons when it comes 
to that crucifier of character known as 
"conversational chat."' This subject 
would not be discussed here except we 
know fear of remark causes many a smart 
business woman to neglect a brilliant 
financial career. We do not consider such 
fear justifiable for the facts are these. 



THBEB HUISTDBED TEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Thirty-Nine 

Sensible people mind their own affairs 
and busy people have no time to even no- 
tice gossiping idiots. We suggest that if 
you have decided upon your proposed line 
of business you spend a little time in pre- 
paring yourself for an interview accord- 
ing to our advice in other chapters. Place 
an ad. in the papers for one having the de- 
sired amount of capital. Be sure the ad. 
is large enough to attract several replies. 
Then get the letters, pick out the most 
available one and select some plan of 
operations among those described in this 
book. Follow that plan and see what hap- 
pens. Do not get discouraged with one or 
two failures as the first attempts are only 
try outs any way. Keep at it for a reason- 
able time and success is assured. 

Just one thing more. We said in an- 
other chapter that men would find that 
investors very often had their own ideas 
as to propositions for making money. 
This is doubly true in the case of women 
seeking capital. If you interview several 
you will find many suggestions of ways 
by which you could materially improve 
your condition. We cannot advise re- 
garding these opportunities not knowing 



THREE HUNDRED EI^ETTEBT 



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Chapter Thirty 'Nine 

in advance just what ones will present 
themselves to you. But if you follow 
our method you will get plenty of good 
chances for starting in business many of 
which may be far better than your chosen 
enterprise. All we can say is keep your 
eyes open and our best wishes follow you 
in your struggle for supremacy. 



Contact with a high minded woman is good 
for the life of any man," — Henry Vincent, 




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TB3UB33 HUNDRED FOURTEEN" 



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Common sense in an uncommon degree is 
what the world calls wisdom," — Coleridge. 



HOU may have some money of your 
own stored away and you may be 
thinking of putting in your own savings 
and getting other capital besides. Now 
we advise you not to invest your own 
money unless you have enough to run 
your business without interesting other 
investors. If you have enough to do it 
alone well and good, but if others are 
necessary, why, let them furnish the 
money. Do you expect to furnish the 
idea and brains to work it out? Yes? 
You do? Then let the other man go 
down in his pocket for the wherewithal. 
Money is plenty but brains are scarce. 
One would think to see the mass of people 
in glad attire on some gala day that there 
ought to be a good many sets of well 
trained minds in such a crowd, but what 
a mistake. Do they have ambition? Yes, 
for food and clothes. Do they want to 
better their condition? Yes, a little. 
Are they willing to hustle, to deprive 
themselves of luxuries, to economize for 
a purpose, to study and advance, to work 



TSSEE KUHDBED FIFTEEN 



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Chapter Forty 

to an end? No, That's where they fall. 
They want to get along in an indolent 
sort of way which is no way at all. You 
can count on your fingers and toes the 
young men in a big crowd who will get 
along. You can almost sort them out 
as they pass. The quick elastic tread, 
the sparkling eye,the studious expression, 
the firm countenance, these are the men 
who dare and do. They all have a spark 
of ambition, but in some it gleams so 
much more brightly than in others it 
seems like a real guiding star leading out 
of the darkness into light. When you 
wrote in answer to our advertisement 
you did something of your own free will. 
It may perhaps have been against your 
better judgment, we know not. But you 
did it anyway, regardless, no matter what 
happened. Now, that very act, being un- 
necessary, not forced, just spontaneous 
on your part, places you in our estima- 
tion in the class of the ambitious, the 
eligible, the elect of the business world. 
For of just such people as you are will the 
big business men of the next twenty years 
be made. Your proposition may be small 
now. But it can grow. If not capable, 
in itself, of much growth, it can be added 



TESEE SrUin>KE2> SIXTEEH 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty 

to or changed to suit your own expansion 
of idea and capacity. For there are other 
businesses, and it is not so much the 
business as the man behind the business, 
that determines its money making qual- 
ities. So much for brains as compared 
to money. We said do not invest your 
own money in your own business unless 
you have enough to carry it through 
alone. 

Because if you need only a few thousand 
dollars you can get a partner just as easily 
to furnish the whole amount as nine- 
tenths of it. If you need a large amount 
so that you have to incorporate and sell 
stock to get it you might just as well sell 
enough more stock to cover your small 
investment, as you will get just as large 
a share for managing as you would by 
investing your own savings. In either 
case you are better off because you have 
your own money left for a new start and 
that comes in mighty handy sometimes. 
Why use your own when so many others 
have idle money that they do not know 
how to use? Why? When there is 
always a chance of labor troubles, strikes, 
boycotts, fire, theft, dishonesty, graft, 



SU1TD£EI) 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty 

adverse law suits, accidents, hard times 
and Acts of God to contend with, why 
should you be so sure these will not pester 
you? What right have you to suppose 
that you will not be subject to the same 
annoyances and hindrances that play 
havoc with other business men? Are they 
all to have their troubles and you be im- 
mune? Are you, probably inexperienced, 
to go scott free while the old timers are in 
hot water? We leave you to answer, and 
repeat, do not put yourself in such a 
position that, if your business breaks, 
you break with it. If it goes wrong the 
chances are it will be so far wrong that 
your small sum would not save it and you 
will be much easier in mind to have a 
little hid where no one knows about it but 
yourself. We know the ambitious feel they 
cannot fail and we fully believe you with 
the aid of this book will not fail in the 
long run. In the meantime you are 
likely to have some experiences. We could 
foresee them for you to a great extent, 
but time and space will not permit us to 
speculate upon those matters. Suffice 
it to say that you will be surprised at 
some of the hard knocks which are 
bound to come to you, as they do to all 



THDKEHH EUKBEEB EICrHTEES 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty 

men of business. When they do come 
meet them face to face, act upon your 
better judgment and above all be a man. 
We believe our words in this chapter 
should convince any reasoning man that 
this book is prepared for the sole purpose 
of making the way of the ambitious one 
easier, quicker and safer. In the larger 
money centres the smart clever ones 
never invest their own money. They 
keep that and feel that their brains ought 
to produce other people's money to do 
the experimenting with. A sentimental 
person would no doubt urge that he 
would not enter a business where he was 
afraid to invest his own money. This 
is one point of view. It is not practical, 
it is purely sentimental and arises from 
subjective emotion or feeling. The facts 
are that no one knows what is going to 
happen and no matter how hard he tries 
he may go wrong. If so, the more money 
he has kept aside in the first place, the 
better prepared he is to start again. If 
a man's broke, he is broke and no argu- 
ment. But if he has a few hundred to 
tide him over, the sun shines just as 
brightly for him as for the wealthiest 
bondholder on the street. A little educa- 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty 

tion is a wonderful thing, but a little 
money is much more wonderful if one 
needs it. 



To despise money is to dethrone a king." 

— Thamfort, 




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Chapter Forty-One 

"Avoid him who, for mere curiosity, asks 
three questions running about something that 
cannot interest him," — Lavater. 



IWJ|HAT a wonderful thing curiosity is. 
uAM It sends people thousands of miles 
from home in search of poles. It drives 
men into the bowels of the earth looking 
for gold. It makes men mad trying 
eternally for perpetual motion always 
"so near, yet so far." Also curiosity in- 
duces people to answer ads. much to the 
disgust of some mail-order houses which 
have millions of names on their hooks 
who will never spend four dollars away 
from home. 

But why keep on spending money for 
stamps on such a worthless lot? Because 
one never can tell when a good customer 
is going to step out of the ranks of the 
useless. One never can tell what is going 
on in the minds of these many apparent- 
ly curious people. Because one has to 
take the bad with the good in this world, 
the bitter with the sweet. We should 
not have penned this chapter except to 
utter a timely warning to seekers of 



TEBEE HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO 



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Chapter Forty -One 

capital. You will find many people will 
answer your financial ad. who have no 
more idea of putting up money than a 
man in the moon. This must not dis- 
courage you, for curiosity is the life of 
advertising, and were it not for this trait 
of character you might get no replies at 
all, either good or bad, to your earnest 
appeals. It is no worse for you to deal 
with a few curiosity seekers than for the 
merchant to deal with a great many of 
them. But there is no harm in keeping 
your eyes open for them and stepping 
along the moment you see the least sign 
of bad faith. The man who really means 
business will be in earnest. 

He will be glad to see you but not effusive. 
Cordial but not anxious. Agreeable but 
not prying. His eye will look calmly, 
steadily into yours when addressing you, 
but he will not stare at you in a way to 
make you uncomfortable. His voice will 
have the clear resonant tone of convic- 
tion. His step will be firm, his hand will 
grasp yours in a way to be remembered. 
These are the earmarks of the man who 
means business. He will have the money 
and will not be afraid to invest it. When 



THREE HUNDRED TWENTY-THREE 



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Chapter Forty -One 

you find such a man you will do well to 
land him for he will not only help you get 
started but will be a constant joy as a 
business partner. Here again is an oppor- 
tunity for the exercise of a little good judg- 
ment. We can tell you of the best 
methods, explain the details, warn you of 
the worst pitfalls, but we cannot exercise 
judgment for you. That you must do 
for yourself. 

We suggest that in talking with the in- 
vestor for the first time you make a men- 
tal note of the likelihood of his being in 
earnest, using the above hints as a guide. 
Look him over carefully, try not to miss 
a single point and we venture to say you 
will be certain in your own mind after the 
first interview whether he will be the man 
you want or not. If you think he is, see 
him again. If not, leave him alone. You 
will gain in the long run by deciding and 
acting, for, if your decision is adverse the 
next man you see is likely to be so far 
superior to the last one you will forever 
rejoice in your good sense in following 
your better judgment. There are just as 
good fish in the sea as ever were caught. 
This applies with great force to the raising 



EPDTOTDRED TWE1TTY-FOUB 



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Chapter Forty -One 

of capital by our methods. You do not 
have to be satisfied with any old money. 
You can, within reasonable limits make a 
selection and get a good investor plus the 
money, which is a consummation de- 
voutly to be wished. Suppose you get 
twenty replies next week to a financial ad. 
You look them over, size them up, pass 
judgment on them. If one is found sat- 
isfactory well and good. If not you can 
get twenty more replies the week after 
and so on. Nothing at all to hinder you 
(except cost of ads. and car fare) from in- 
vestigating quite a number so that you 
may be reasonably sure of securing a val- 
uable aid. This is important and the 
very moment you have interviewed a half- 
dozen investors you will see the truth of 
what we are taking so much pains to tell 
you. Perhaps you already knew it. If 
so we can see no reason for you to need 
this book. If any man once becomes con- 
vinced absolutely beyond peradventure 
that he can easily raise capital by adver- 
tising he usually does not do much fool- 
ing around. He goes right after it and 
gets it. Why not? Civilized people need 
to make money fast. They often go to 
the limit of their knowledge without 



THREE EUNUSED TWENTY-FIVE 



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Chapter Forty -One 

finding a satisfactory business. Then 
they must seek others. Also the curious 
desire to see new faces, the wanderlust of 
finance, the roving disposition, the crav- 
ing for a change of scene — all these are 
perfectly natural. What more fitting, 
then, for a man who experiences these 
feelings, to drop a postal to a nicely 
worded ad? We know they do that very 
thing and if we have not proved it con- 
clusively to you it is your misfortune but 
not our fault. 



Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain 
characteristics of a vigorous intellect. Every 
advance into knowledge opens new prospects 
and produces new incitements to further pro- 
gress." — Johnson. 




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"He is wise who knows the sources of knowl- 
edge — WHO has written and where it is to be 
found." — A. A. Hodge. 



m 



UCH has been said and written lately 
about life insurance as a means of 
protecting a man's family after his 
death. We believe in it — that is — straight 
life insurance for protection only and in a 
reasonable amount. But you do not 
hear those same people coming to the 
front with any means of increasing a 
man's income during his life so he can 
pay the premium, provide better for his 
family and get a little more enjoyment 
out of life for himself. No. That is left 
to you. It is necessary for you to dig out 
the ways of money making for yourself. 
Even if your neighbor had a good plan 
which might be within your reach he is 
not likely to say much about it for fear of 
competition on your part which might 
hurt his pocket. So while there are 
thousands of good propositions going 
begging one hears little of them, for those 
who make money out of similar lines (on 
another street, perhaps) keep the fact to 
themselves. We hear in the papers and 



THREE KUZTDBXHD TWEHTY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty -Two 

magazines lots of good advice about how 
to raise one's salary from ten to fifteen or 
twenty dollars a week through the study 
for years of some more or less important 
subject. Everybody tells us there is al- 
ways room at the top — but how to make 
the ascent is left in doubt. They want 
us to save a fortune out of a pittance, to 
deprive ourselves and families of many 
necessities and all luxuries, to satisfy a 
morbid miserly appetite for gold. They 
have told us everything but the right 
thing — how to raise the capital. This 
unlocks every door, supplies necessities 
and luxuries, enables one to travel, to see 
and to do, , promotes happiness and wel- 
fare in a hundred ways. Yet the informa- 
tion has, until lately, been pretty closely 
guarded. Why? Because every mother's 
son who started in business by that route 
thought he was a little smarter than the 
ordinary mortal and did not tell his 
friends. If he did tell, his friends did not 
and so the information died a natural 
death. And so it happens that today, in 
the dawn of a century replete with the 
highest civilization, in a land dotted with 
universities filled with learning, teeming 
with instructors and students eager to 



THEEE RTJNDBED TWENTY-NT2TE 



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Chapter Forty -Two 

learn, the one prime subject, capital rais- 
ing, has been sadly neglected. Hence 
this book. Hence our effort to fill for a 
time at least, the void. Hence our desire 
to place opportunity in the way of the am- 
bitious, the struggling, the working, the 
waiting. Were we to teach a child the 
most important thing in life it would 
be — how to obtain the money of others to 
use in business. We would not need 
to teach him honesty because he would 
have no occasion, no reason, no good 
cause to be dishonest. He would not fear 
failure, for, if he did have bad luck with 
one proposition he could fail "on the 
square" and at once get capital and start 
over again. We say the knowledge of capi- 
tal raising is priceless and we mean it. 
That knowledge opens the door to every 
other kind of desirable knowledge which 
exists. Without it one takes a long 
chance of dying in poverty. With it one 
is reasonably certain of amassing a for- 
tune. He may lose the fortune, as many 
do, but that is another story. That is 
something with which we are not con- 
cerned. The saving of money is an ac- 
complishment which we believe cannot be 
be taught except to children. It may be 



THEE JHUJNDBED TTTTRTY 



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Chapter Forty -Two 

and often is, acquired, but not by the 
precepts of others. It is learned by hard 
knocks and bumps, falls and bruises, by 
the most convincing of all arguments — 
bitter experience. Believing as we do we 
have no advice to offer as to the saving of 
money. We think each one is a law unto 
himself. He makes his own money and 
spends it as he likes until a reverse comes 
along and leaves him a sadder but wiser 
man. Except to urge a man to save 
enough for an advertisement or two and 
a few dollars for incidental expenses we 
have nothing to say about saving. We 
leave such advice to be given by the mil- 
lionaires who love to hear the sound of 
their voices in the newspapers. We are 
more concerned to see you make money, 
enough of it so you will not be tempted 
to spend it all. Enough for you and the 
wife and kids, for the aged parents if, so 
be it, they are still alive. It is hard in- 
deed, to accomplish all of that on a small 
salary basis. You must needs be a busi- 
ness man, to buy and sell enough of 
something at a profit so as to provide all 
these wants and have some left. If you 
labor some one is pretty certain to obtain 
a profit off your work. We urge you to 



THREE HUl EPaEP THIRTY-ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty -Two 

take just one step forward and make that 
profit yourself. Also make a profit off 
the work of others. Use your head. It 
is there for that purpose. Do both the 
planning and executing for a while. 
Then let others execute while you pro- 
vide the sinews of business. That is the 
way money is made. We believe that 
"anything worth doing at all is worth do- 
ing well." For that reason we are mak- 
ing an extra effort to convince you not 
only that the methods of this book are 
correct but to instill the necessary enthu- 
siasm and energy which will enable you to 
follow them. We know you are likely to 
be advised by well-meaning friends not 
to advertise. Others may pooh-hoo the 
idea and tell you to stick to your job. 
Others may say they have tried it and 
failed. We feel you will want to advise 
with your friends about these matters 
and that is why we say — pay no attention 
whatever to any discouraging remarks. 
Do not let any one talk you out of your 
opportunity. Do not allow yourself to 
lose faith for one moment. You have de- 
cided on a proposition. You have made 
up your mind to try and secure the capi- 
tal. You are on the right track, but 



TEEEE MU£H>BHD THIRTY-TWO 



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Chapter Forty-! wo 

there are numerous curves and low 
bridges ahead. Stick to your aim and 
you will, you must — succeed. Just bear 
this thought in mind. There is plenty 
of idle money — the owners of it all read 
the papers — they all want to make money 
just as you do — they are not decided how 
to invest their idle funds, for if they were 
they would do it. Here it is, shorter yet. 
Idle money — wants more — undecided — 
sees newspapers — answers ad. — meets you 
— becomes your partner. You see the 
wantismutual. They want men of brains, 
you want men of money. It is a fair 
chance for both. We do not like to do 
work with no results. It costs time, 
labor and money to produce this book 
and we want it to accomplish its purpose 
in your case. It is an absolute certainty 
you will get a chance to interview people 
who have money and will be interested 
in your line of business, if you will do as 
we advise. It is just as certain that you 
will close a deal with one of them if you 
master this book and follow the plans 
here outlined. The only chance for you 
to fail on either of those statements is 
for you to allow yourself to be sidetracked 
by remarks of others or by your own 



TEBSE HUNDRED THIRTY-THREE 



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Chapter Forty -Two 

doubts and fears. Therefore we are plac- 
ing every fact before you that you may 
know what to do, in the raising of the 
capital you desire. Give our plan a good 
fair trial and you will find a new idea of 
protection for the future so far ahead of 
life insurance that there is no compari- 
son. Insurance is to protect the weak. 
Capital raising is a means of protection 
for the whole family and all dependent 
upon it. Place yourself where you don't 
need to be protected then buy life insur- 
ance — if you want it. 



"True wisdom is to know what is best worth 
knowing, and to do what is best worth doing." 

— Humphrey, 




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Chapter Forty - 7 hree 

"I hate to see things done by halves; if it be 
right do it boldly — if it be wrong leave it un- 
done." — Gilpin. 



B 



E have no desire to pose herein as 
heroic examples of either i 'charac- 
ter' ' or its complement "decision.' ' But 
years of experience have taught us that 
anything worth doing at all is worth 
doing well and at once. To make up your 
mind as to the feasibility of a certain 
line of action, to decide and to follow at 
once that decision is the greatest prelude 
to success. Three elements enter here. 
Logic, or the science of reasoning, which 
enables the mind to grasp, classify and 
weigh opposing arguments. Judgment 
or decision, which enables one to con- 
vince himself as to which is for the best- 
Character, or executive ability, which 
enables one to act immediately on the 
plan which logic says is best. A business 
man can accomplish a wonderful amount 
of work in one day by applying those 
three elements. Also he can rest at 
night. For if a man cannot depend on 
his own jugdment where is he to find a 
judgment on which he can depend? Now 



TEHEE UUSDBES T H IE TIT- SEVEN 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty -Three 

for another suggestion. One's memory 
is often deceptive. We may think we 
have in mind all the arguments, pro and 
con, and after a while find we have skip- 
ped one or more of the most important 
ones. Have you ever noticed that in 
your experience? If so, we suggest that a 
very effective way is to jot down, on paper, 
the points both for and against any cer- 
tain proposition that may be serious 
enough to demand careful attention. 
Consider each point thoroughly, weigh 
the evidence on each side carefully, then 
decide what to do and write the decision. 
Put that decision in your pocket or other 
handy receptacle where you will be likely 
to see it every day. That little act of 
decision will place you under a certain 
obligation, to yourself, to act on the re- 
sult of your betterjudgment. Some day — 
very soon, most likely — you will get 
ashamed of yourself and you will arrive 
at a point where you will think you are 
being cheated by delaying action on a 
subject which you had faithfully prom- 
ised would be looked after at once. Then 
you will act. Also, be glad. For did a man 
ever regret doing a thing he had calmly 
decided was right? Not that we have 



TTTffcKK SUXTDRXTD THXRTY-EXOKT 



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Chapter Forty -Three 

heard of. Would a man be guilty of 
condemning his reason, his decision and 
his action? Hardly. To the contrary 
he is bound to be the gainer. For if such 
action should mean a temporary loss, 
which is unlikely, he has gained both 
time and character. If such action wins 
the well-merited reward then he is mold- 
ing his character for further similar 
benefits on a larger scale. We see no 
result, permanently, but a positive gain 
by decision and action. If a man cannot 
succeed in that way we would not know 
how or where to look for his success. 
However — some say character is inherited 
and can not be changed, which latter is 
not, of course, true. Character being an 
attribute of the mind may be remodeled, 
increased or diminished in strength, 
moulded to almost every form and degree 
just as is true of every other mental at- 
tribute. How? By securing a text book 
on Logic, the science of reasoning, mas- 
tering its contents in a fair degree and 
then making written comments on any 
subject which may come up for decision. 
This simple method will naturally create 
both decision and character. It will 
enable its followers to hide for a time 



THREE HUNDRED THXHTT-HIHH 



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Chapter Forty -Three 

what slight defects they cannot at once 
conquer. In the course of events it will 
permanently remove indecision and re- 
place it with a high degree of reason, 
judgment and executive ability. Now 
for the application. If you are still un- 
decided after reading our book we sug- 
gest you make written mention of the 
arguments for our methods as presented 
herein or from any other source. Also 
put down the opposite arguments that 
may occur to you. Consider the evidence 
carefully, decide the question upon its 
merits, and act either on our plans or 
whatever other one you may decide upon. 
But in any case act. No good can come 
of hesitancy, doubt, fear, inaction. They 
are the cemeteries of good intentions. 



The firm purpose is equal to the deed." 

— Young. 




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Chapter Forty-Four 

"Nature knows no pause in progress and de- 
velopment and attaches her curse on all in- 
action." — Goethe. 



0LL action of whatsoever nature, 
either mental or physical, is per- 
formed under the inexorable dictates of 
natural law. Which does not mean that 
we mortals know all of those laws. We 
do not. But we do know many of them, 
and some of the most important ones, 
at least they seem so to us, who are able 
to pull aside the veil of knowledge only 
very slightly. One of those natural laws, 
which everyone, be he rich or poor, king 
or peasant must obey, is as follows : 
All the forces of nature operate along the 
lines of least resistance. 

This law is universal in its application 
and there are no exceptions to it. The 
river flowing in majesty dodges the rock 
because it is easier than flowing over it. 
The bouncing ball finally seeks rest in 
obedience to gravitation. The eagle, 
proud emblem of a great nation, may 
soar for hours in heavenly solitude but 
in obedience to law must finally rest or 



THREE HUNDRED FORTY- TWO 



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Chapter Forty-Four 

perish. Man, the Lord of Creation, made 
in the image of God, must eat, sleep, 
drink in obedience to law or pay the 
death penalty. Nothing living or dead 
can escape obedience. Man having great- 
er mental powers than other animals is 
capable of greater resistance to natural 
law. But in the end the result is the 
same. Obey or die. Nature is herself 
the complaining witness, the prosecutor, 
the judge, the jury, and the final exe- 
cutioner of all her decrees. And be sure 
she makes no mistakes. She metes out 
exact justice, no more, no less, to one 
and all without fear or favor because all 
are governed by the same laws which 
must be obeyed. Now while that is a 
perfectly true scientific conclusion yet it 
does not always appear to be true. Some 
seem to be more favored by nature than 
others. The reason is that the forces of 
nature are constantly working in oppo- 
site directions thus producing such a 
bewildering variety of results that the 
mind at once pauses, wondering if it is in 
reality law or only mere chance. But be 
very sure it is not chance. It is law and 
that alone. Not only is this belief the 
truth but it is safer for you. A belief in 



TESEE -H.131SJiS.-EJi POETY-TESEE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty-Four 

chance or fortuity is unwise and con- 
trary to the teachings of nature herself. 
What seems to be chance is simply the 
working out, into small details, of natural 
law, in cases where many forces of nature 
operate on one idea or action, each force 
operating along the line of least resist- 
ance, but at a different angle or in a 
different way. Thus there are rocks of 
all sizes but all were produced in the 
same general way — the difference in size 
and appearance being due to soil, 
rain, wind, sun, pressure, motion, heat, 
all forces of nature (or products of 
natural forces,) acting under absolute 
laws but opposing each other in different 
degrees at different times. We are reason- 
ably sure we will have plenty of wheat 
next year but just how many bushels one 
solitary acre would produce is quite 
another problem. But we want to apply 
the principle of natural force to the pur- 
poses of this book. We offer this book 
as one containing a practical method of 
raising capital. Within reasonable limits 
we fully believe it to be so. To explain — 
we divide mankind into five classes. 
Genius — above the average — average — 
unambitious common laborers — illiter- 



THEEE HUNSBIiD POBTY-POUB 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty-Four 

ate workmen. Genius, we have said be- 
fore, needs no aid. It is of itself a leader 
of men. A genius in financial matters 
would take up any proposition, finance it 
and carry it through by himself. There 
is no hope of any kind for the unam- 
bitious laborer or the illiterate workman 
— at least — none that we can give. We 
do not pretend to be able to arouse am- 
bition where there is none. Nor have 
we time to teach the three R's to illiter- 
ate people. Therefore we eliminate three 
classes from our argument, but they are 
the three smallest classes. There are 
only a few men of genius and only a few 
unambitious and comparatively few illit- 
erate. This leaves the * 'average man" 
or as Uncle Joe would say the "plain 
people" which is by far the largest class. 
Also the men above the average, be- 
tween ordinary folks and genius, which 
is another very large class. With these 
two classes we have to deal and to these 
two classes we offer this book as a practi- 
cal method of raising reasonable capital 
for legitimate business. By reasonable 
capital we mean not over twenty-five 
thousand for the exceptional man or the 
"man above the average" nor over ten 



THREE KUNDEEB TOB.TY-FTVE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty-Four 

thousand for the average man. And we 
further qualify this by advising each one 
to change his plans, cut down the amount 
desired or try some smaller enterprise 
in case his first and second attempt on 
his original plans does not prove success- 
ful. By legitimate business we mean any 
enterprise which is not in conflict with 
the laws of city, state or nation. We do 
not care to be a party to, or have our 
methods used for, the benefit of fakirs 
or thieving operations. Now for the ar- 
gument. Let us repeat the law upon 
which this book is based. "All the forces 
of nature operate along the lines of least 
resistance/ 9 In other words, nature 
decrees that the easiest way is always the 
best way, everything being considered. 
Now since you, as well as the investor 
are possessed of certain "forcesof nature, " 
and since those forces operate best when 
least resisted it is plain that our plans 
to be of most benefit to you must be 
easier for you, or easier for the investor, 
or both, than the ordinary methods. 
What are the ordinary methods? As far 
as we know, at the writing of this book, 
there has never been any definite plan 
in general use for raising capital. Hence 



THREE EUNSBED FORTY-SIX 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty-Four 

there has been, in the absence of text- 
books on the subject, no regular recog- 
nized way by which one could be reason- 
ably sure of success. Therefore we reply 
by saying the ordinary method in com- 
mon use was to find some man, by 
chance, whom it was thought might be 
interested and to ask him to put in the 
bank a fixed amount for the promoter 
to use (supposedly) for the best interests 
of the business. This plan will fail, just 
as it stands, in ninety-nine cases out of a 
hundred. Therefore improvement upon 
it should not be difficult. Now our plan 
is in two parts — generally speaking. 

First — securing names of possible inves- 
tors, second — the method of obtaining the 
investment after securing the name. 

Specifically speaking — we explain the 
different feasible methods of securing 
names of possible investors and, after 
discussion, settle upon advertising as the 
cheapest, quickest, most reliable method. 
That we shall prove. We then go over 
the different ways of securing the actual 
investment and decide that, by placing 
the investor under an obligation of some 
sort, first, and by letting him pay some 



THREE HUNDBEB FORTY-SEVEN 



Our Prac tical Method 



Chapter Forty -Four 

actual expense of the proposed business, 
second, is the combination which secures 
the investment in the cheapest, quickest, 
most reliable way. This we shall also 
prove. We believe the proof is scarcely- 
necessary as both plans seem to us to be 
self evident truths. But we shall prove 
them anyway taking the facts of human 
experience as our evidence, than which 
we submit there can be no better argu- 
ments. We shall present the proof in 
sections, the first subject being "adver- 
tising as a means of securing names of 
investors." This proposition naturally 
divides itself into two ideas. A — . Does 
advertising pay as a general proposition? 
B — . Does advertising pay as applied to 
capital raising? If we can reasonably 
establish the truth of the former prop- 
osition it will be good evidence of the 
truth of the latter. While not conclu- 
sive proof it will be a big "straw which 
shows the way the wind blows." There 
are two million stores on earth, three 
fourths of which are users of advertising. 
It does not seem likely they would pay 
for something of no value. Yet perhaps 
they are deceived, who knows? There 
are over a hundred thousand periodical 



HDETMDKED FO»TY-BIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty-Four 

publications on earth, ninety-nine per 
cent, of which are supported by advertis- 
ing and could not exist without it, under 
present conditions. Are they receiving 
money for something of no value? It is 
very unlikely. There are thousands of 
mail order business houses, many of 
them worth millions of money, who 
could not possibly have carried on their 
business without advertising. Is that 
conclusive proof? Those are facts of 
everyday experience, facts which every- 
one should know, and facts which should 
have proved to you long before this that 
advertising pays in a general way. Yes, 
you say, but does it pay in capital raising? 
Let us see. The larger city papers carry 
columns of financial advertising every 
day, but most on Sunday. Many of 
them have several pages of such notices. 
One page costs for one time from a thous- 
sand dollars down. A few figures will 
show that millions of dollars are spent 
each year for advertising on money rais- 
ing propositions of every conceivable de- 
scription. Is it reasonable to suppose 
that all these people are wasting their 
money. Is it fair to the newspapers to 
believe they would, in a large number of 



THREE HUNDRED PORTT-NXNE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty-Four 

cases, knowingly accept money for which 
they could give no fair return? Do you 
not believe that when a man lays down 
his hard cash for advertising either his 
own actual experience or that of some 
one else has told him he was justified in 
so doing? These are stubborn argu- 
ments for the doubters. But there are 
two greater ones. First — that investors 
read the papers, advertisements and all, 
just like other humans. Second — they 
want more money because the more 
money one gets the more uses he finds 
for it and the harder he will try to obtain 
it. You may need money badly but the 
investor wants it far more than you, as 
a general rule, because, while he has 
some money, yet his expenses and neces- 
sities usually grow much faster than his 
income. Lawyers always strive to estab- 
lish a motive for crime believing it to 
be convincing evidence. So it is. We 
are in the position of having to prove to 
you that you can do something before 
you have tried. To accomplish that we 
must show the investor to have some 
motive, some strong moving force, some 
desperate emotion to impel him to an- 
swer your advertisement. Is there such 



TEEBEE HUNDRED FIFTY 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty-Four 

a motive? Yes indeed. What is it? 
Money — more money. That's all. But 
that's enough. What greater, more 
forceful, more insistent, more impelling 
motive could he have? Where could 
you find a motive which would be better, 
be more effective? There is none. And 
when you, by a simple advertisement, 
place in the hands of an investor an hon- 
est means of increasing his income you 
are doing him one of the greatest favors 
one man can do another and both you 
and he should so consider it. Because, 
if|he is looking for an opportunity, that 
is proof conclusive that he is not satisfied 
with what opportunities he can open up 
for himself. Therefore he is looking for 
brains — which means opportunity. You 
need the aid of his money — he needs the 
aid of your brains — it is an even exchange 
and "even exchange is no robbery." Such 
a deal should prove a blessing to you 
both and we hope indeed, it will. 

We believe the foregoing to be reasonable 
proof that advertising pays generally, and 
particularly when applied to obtaining 
the names of possible investors. Now to 
establish the fact that our method of 



-xJttjifcTIK HUNDRED FIFTY-ONE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty-Four 

securing the actual investment is cheap- 
est, quickest and most reliable. Two 
general principles are involved. First — 
to place the investor under some sort of 
an obligation to you. Second, as a result 
of such obligation to secure a guarantee 
for, or actual payment of, some material 
or other necessary expense of the pro- 
posed business. We claim this as a far 
superior method to the ordinary one of 
merely asking the investor to put a sum 
of money in the bank and allowing the 
promoter the privilege of using that 
money to what may seem to him to be 
the best advantage. We shall establish 
the principle of an "obligation in busi- 
ness" first. All the proof we need on 
this subject we can draw right from your 
own experience, or from any well con- 
ducted retail store. You will remember 
how the clerks looked after their custom- 
ers? They gave their time freely — but — 
they expected to make a sale and if the 
the customer was slow or showed no dis- 
position to buy they made it plain that 
time was valuable, that they were work- 
ing on commission, that they hoped they 
could show the customers something he 
would like and the thousand and one ar- 



THREE HUNDRED PIPTY-TWO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty-Four 

guments a good clerk will produce to 
make the customer feel that he should 
not have entered the store unless he in- 
tended to buy. Now that is the most 
effective argument which can be used on 
an unwilling customer. To make him 
ashamed of using the time of business 
people without recompense is the surest 
way to reach his pocket book. We advised 
a similar method when we said — "talk 
as little about money as possible to 
the investor; but get him to see the 
landlord, the drummer or the fixture 
man," The very moment he takes up 
their time, that moment he is putting 
himself under obligation to invest money 
in your enterprise. He may feel he has a 
right to take up your time but he knows 
he has no right to take up their time un- 
less he means business, and is ready to 
act if satisfied. If he does not know it 
beforehand he will be aware of it during 
the interview which suits the purpose 
just as well. Such a small obligation 
may seem of no consequence, but try it, 
watch the working out of it and see for 
yourself. Then you will know. The 
principle you can prove for yourself in 
any ordinary store, or, question any good 



TKJk.EE HUNT) HE D FIFTY-THREE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty-Four 

clerk. The second part of this propo- 
sition is practically proved by the estab- 
lishment of the principle of "obligation 
in business.' ' Having placed the inves- 
tor under obligation the landlord, drum- 
mer or fixture man will either get a lease 
signed, get an order for goods or a con- 
tract for fixtures as the case may be. That 
will be done by them, as your part of the 
work temporarily ends, where the work 
of those to whom you present the in- 
vestor commences. After a small pay- 
ment is made or a lease or contract signed 
or secured you can then talk to the invest- 
or about a partnership contract. For 
corporation investment the principle of 
"obligation in business" is exactly the 
same but the details of carrying out the 
plans are a little different. They are fully 
explained under another chapter. Web- 
ster said, with truth, "An obligation is 
any act by which one person becomes 
bound to do something for another; an 
external duty imposed by the relations of 
society or by an act of courtesy or kind- 
ness." Fuller makes it plainer we think 
when he says; "A tender conscience is a 
stronger obligation than a prison." Our 
contention is that, by our method, the 



THREE HUNDRED FIFTY-FOUR 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty-Four 

investor is placed under three different 
obligations each of which is a hard one 
for him to evade. First — when he ans- 
wers your advertisement, he deliberately 
places himself under an obligation to 
give your proposition fair consideration, 
by reason of using your valuable time. 
Second — when you introduce him to the 
landlord, drummer or others you place 
him under still further obligation for 
using up their time. Third — when he 
signs a lease or makes a payment on 
goods or material he places himself un- 
der a final obligation to become interest- 
ed with you by reason of his assuming 
responsibility in your behalf. 



'Responsibility educates." 

— Wendell Phillips. 




THREE HUNDRED PIPTY-PIVE 



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they may be easily applied to your oivn proposition* 

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THBEE HUSTBEED FIFTY-SEVEN 



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Chapter Forty-Five 

"The great thing in this world, is not so much 
where we are, but in what direction we are 
moving." — Oliver Wendell Holmes. 



njN saying a parting word to the read- 
I ers of this book we would call 
special attention to the three vital prin- 
ciples contained herein, viz: decision of 
character, advertising and obligation. 
These three principles are in common 
use in practically every successful mer- 
cantile enterprise in this great nation. 
To decide upon the kind of goods to offer 
for sale, to get the customers interested 
by advertising, and to complete the sales 
by placing the customers under some 
obligation to buy, is the finest type of 
business as it is being conducted today. 
These three principles work just the same 
in capital raising as they do in any ordin- 
ary business. For capital raising is only 
a higher form of salesmanship. No less. 
No more. It is merely decision as to the 
kind of business, advertising to secure 
the names of interested investors and 
then placing those investors under some 
form of obligation, be it little or great, 
to pay for something of benefit to the 



THREE HUNBKED FIFTY-EIGHT 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty -Five 

proposed enterprise. Decision of char- 
acter is not a new theme of discussion. 
But be it old or new all authorities agree 
as to its value, and particularly in the 
business world. Advertising is not new 
but it so happens that a reasonable 
knowledge of the value of it has only 
recently been developed, also that this 
knowledge has been confined to a very 
few people. The most of those who have 
had thorough advertising knowledge have 
taken advantage of it making fortunes by 
its application. The use of advertising 
in securing capital has only become fairly 
well recognized in very late years. But 
the average person has not known much 
about it for he has not been in a good 
position to learn, that is, he was not forced 
to learn and, therefore, did not. For the 
most of us only learn that which really 
becomes necessary for us to know. The 
larger bond houses, which represent the 
highest type of capital-raising, have very 
lately commenced placing entire issues 
by means of advertising alone. Since 
investors in bonds represent the most 
conservative class of our citizens, as well 
as probably the most intelligent class, this 
one item should be ample proof that men 



TH3KEE HUNDRED POTY-NHJE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty-Five 

of money do read the papers, advertise- 
ments and all, and that they do answer 
such advertisements as appeal to their 
fancy. Advertising is today the one su- 
preme means of communication between 
strangers. We could not conceive of an 
introduction more suitable than that 
obtained by means of an investor's fav- 
orite newspaper. The average man thinks 
more of his newspaper than he does of 
any one of his friends. With good reason, 
we think, for his newspaper does more 
for him in one day's reading than the 
friend could possibly do in a whole life. 
When he answers an advertisement call- 
ing for an investment rest assured he is 
just as much in earnest as you are, and 
while naturally skeptical or suspicious, 
perhaps, yet that is only a veneer of 
caution and will at once wear away upon 
the presentation by you of a business 
like air, manner and actions. 



The law of our land presumes a man 
innocent until he is proven guilty. But 
sad to relate the every day world of 
finance regards men in the opposite light. 
Most people who have any money nowa- 



TEEEE EUNDBED SIXTY 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty -Five 

days experience such a struggle to get it 
and keep it, and have been approached so 
often with swindling schemes, that it is 
no wonder they are gradually assuming 
that a man is guilty until he is proven 
innocent. This is the reason why we say 
do not ask an investor to put money in 
the bank for you to use. That would at 
once arouse suspicion. Much better, let 
the landlord ask him to pay the rent, or 
the drummer ask him to buy a stock of 
goods — or let him pay any necessary ex- 
pense of the new enterprise. Such action 
tends to allay suspicion and create con- 
fidence which is the one necessary end 
and aim. ' 



Just a few remarks on the subject of ob- 
ligation and we have finished. It has 
been our purpose, throughout this book, 
to show how strong an influence an obli- 
gation is, in forcing the actions of men. 
There is one very large concern selling 
cigars. They have a sort of school for 
training salesmen. These new salesmen 
are there taught to place the box of cigars 
into the customer's hands as this action 
places the customer under a slight obli- 



T1EEE HUNDRED SISTT-OBTE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty-Five 

gation to purchase. That this particular 
cigar concern fully understands the value 
of obligation in salesmanship is plain 
from their wonderful success. Again the 
subject of automobiles arises frequently 
nowadays. The manufacturers of ma- 
chines fully appreciate the art of placing 
the customer under obligation. They 
take him for a short spin to demonstrate 
the good qualities of the car and pin him 
down to a "yes" or "no" answer while he 
is still enjoying the fresh air and hospi- 
tality. Real estate people in the cities 
also apply the principle of obligation. 
They advertise a free excursion to some 
suburb where they have lots for sale. 
While the home seeker is enjoying the 
nice lunch the realty man has provided, 
he is presented with a contract and asked 
to sign. Advertisers offer all sorts of in- 
ducements to the public so that people 
may be placed under obligation to pur- 
chase their wares. The big general stores 
are not above placing their customers 
under obligation, by means of samples, 
cut-price sales, etc, to purchase their 
family supplies at the same store. The 
larger ones nowadays supply music, rest 
rooms, eating rooms, in fact every con- 



THEEE HUNDRED SIXTY-TWiO 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty-Five 

venience for the comfort of the shopper. 
Obligation is so strongly recognized as a 
prime factor of business today that it has 
become a desperate struggle on the part 
of the business men, to place their new 
and old customers under obligations to 
trade. An old book agent used to re- 
mark "If I can get a pen into his hand 
he is sure to sign." Our suggestions in 
this book for securing the closing of a 
deal are all based upon the sense of ob- 
ligation. If you can, by the aid of others, 
or by your own efforts, place your investor 
under obligation, you will find that your 
way is comparatively easy. These three, 
decision of character, advertising and 
obligation are the bone, nerve and sinew 
of capital-raising. It takes strength to 
decide — courage to advertise — cleverness 
to obligate. Yet any ordinary person with 
a fair education, a little knowledge of 
business and plenty of enthusiasm can 
easily encompass all three. Were we 
asked to offer one parting word it would 
be this. Be sure to have some special 
object in view besides the making of 
money. Perhaps it may be marriage, 
the building of a home, the education of 
a child, the aiding of a decrepit relative 



TESEE HUNDRED SIXTY-THREE 



Our Practical Method 



Chapter Forty -Five 

or friend, the securing of a better educa- 
tion for yourself, it may be travel, art, 
social preferment or a high political am- 
bition. But whatever it may be every 
one should have, away down in his heart, 
a deep, abiding love of some high and 
noble object as a motive power and reason 
for wanting money. For the love of 
money, for its own sake, is the most de- 
grading of ambitions. Money is useless 
except for the good it can do. And, say 
what we will, there is one greater moving 
energy than money; it is love. Love of 
the good, the noble, the true. Love of 
mankind, in its highest sense, will carry 
any man farther on the road to success 
than the love of money alone could ever 
do. 



Get money to live, then live and use it." 

— Herbert, 

THE END. 



TEBEE HUN35BED SIXTY-FOUR 



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